Press Releases

Advisory committee consulted on initial framework of CHP

The Advisory Committee on the Centre for Health Protection (ACCHP) today (November 13) held its first meeting to discuss the initial framework of a Centre for Health Protection (CHP) in Hong Kong and review the experience of overseas agencies with infectious disease control and prevention functions.

Chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Mrs Carrie Yau, the advisory committee comprises local healthcare professionals from the public and private sectors, experts in disciplines relevant to the work of the future CHP, Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) representative as well as relevant senior Government officials.

Speaking on the work of the CHP, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, said the Government was actively following up the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) Expert Committee's recommendation to set up a CHP with responsibility, authority and accountability for the prevention and control of communicable diseases.

"This new public health infrastructure will not only consolidate existing disease control strategies but also meet new challenges posed by the increasingly heavy human and trade movement between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and also with the rest of the world.

"In the process of setting up the CHP, I believe the advisory committee, which brings together a pool of local talent and healthcare professionals, with their expertise and wise counsel, will help shape Hong Kong's new public health infrastructure," he said.

At today's meeting, the advisory committee reviewed the experience of overseas agencies in over 10 countries dealing with infectious disease prevention and control, including Singapore, Finland, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America and the Mainland.

A spokesman for ACCHP noted that with the exception of the Health Protection Agency in the United Kingdom whose structure was still evolving, all organisations were government agencies or government-owned entities, and nine of them were funded by government appropriation.

On the initial structural framework of the future CHP, the spokesman said the ACCHP exchanged views on five major areas of work as follows:

(1) Surveillance and Epidemiology

(2) Emergency Response

(3) Prevention and Control

(4) Professional Development

(5) Research and Laboratory Services

As regards the institutional arrangements, the spokesman said the Government proposed to initially establish the CHP within the Government because many of its core functions such as collecting sensitive patient data, requiring healthcare institutions to comply with directives, and international liaison could not be performed effectively by non-government entities.

The spokesman added that CHP should tap the expertise of well-recognised disease control agencies and local/overseas universities through secondment or a joint appointment system, subject to detailed arrangements agreeable to all parties concerned.

The advisory committee was tasked with providing advice on the functional and organisational framework of the CHP, including functions and roles, the scope, and the directions of training, research and development. It also monitored the progress of the development of the centre.

Ends/Thursday, November 13, 2003
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