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SHWF meets with health officials from Australia and Thailand

A regional-wide preparedness plan will minimise the chances of an avian influenza outbreak in the region, said the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, at a bilateral meeting with the Thailand Minister of Public Health today (May 17).


Dr Chow was in Geneva attending the 58th World Health Assembly. Seizing on the opportunity of the gathering there, he met with his Australian and Thai counterparts, respectively, to exchange views on health issues of mutual concern.


Dr Chow shared the view that it would benefit the entire region if there was to be closer cooperation between countries in the region, in particular, in dealing with the threat of a possible outbreak of the avian influenza.


Both the Secretary of the Australian Department of Health and Aging, Ms Jane Halton, and the Thai Minister of Public Health, Mr Suchai Charoenratanakul, agreed that there should be more professional exchange of medical personnel with Hong Kong.


Dr Chow also took the opportunity to visit the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Strategic Health Information Centre, where he was briefed by officials at the centre on the WHO's information sharing and alert system on infectious disease.





Ends/Tuesday, May 17, 2005

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