The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Advisory Council on AIDS:

     The Hong Kong Advisory Council on AIDS (ACA) and the Hong Kong Society for HIV Medicine jointly organised an interdisciplinary forum on chemsex (the Chemsex Forum) today (May 11), during which experts and representatives from the healthcare, welfare and academic sectors convened to discuss the international public health concern about chemsex from diverse perspectives in an effort to further explore how to pool their resources and expertise to provide more appropriate services for people concerned.

     The ACA has been closely monitoring local and international trends and development relating to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and relevant high risk behaviours. In its meeting held in February this year, the ACA reviewed the latest landscape of chemsex (the behaviour of using certain psychotropic substances by men who have sex with men (MSM) in a sexualised context is known as chemsex internationally), as well as its impact on local HIV control efforts. According to the data analysis of the "HIV Prevalence and Risk behavioural Survey of Men who have sex with men and Transgenders" conducted by the Department of Health (DH) in 2022, nearly 10 per cent of MSM in Hong Kong had participated in chemsex in the past six months, which was comparable with a similar survey in 2017. The survey also revealed that the ratio of using injections among MSM who have participated in chemsex increased to 22 per cent comparing with 7 per cent in 2017, which warrants attention. As one of the responses by the ACA to address the latest situation of chemsex, the Chemsex Forum aims to foster collaboration and focus the power of caring and inclusivity with the objective of whole-person health by connecting pertinent stakeholders and creating an effective and thematic interdisciplinary platform for experts from different realms.

     At the Chemsex Forum, various local and international speakers engaged in in-depth discussions pertaining to the unique needs of chemsex users, including the evolving trend of chemsex in Hong Kong, people-centred integrated services, motivational interviewing techniques, psychological, cognitive and behavioural aspects of chemsex users, as well as overseas experience sharing. The definition of chemsex was also discussed to facilitate future analyses and research. Furthermore, the interactive open forum session facilitated the discussion among participants from diverse fields, with the aim to strengthen collaboration in building positive attitudes from different social aspects and creating an inclusive and accepting environment, as well as to provide tailored support services to cater for the diverse needs of chemsex users and facilitate access to related services for those who need them.

     The ACA expressed sincere gratitude to the the Hong Kong Society for HIV Medicine for jointly organising the Chemsex Forum, and more than 170 stakeholders from different sectors who attended the Forum for making it a great success.

     Since its establishment in 1990, the ACA has played a pivotal role in advising the Government on policy relating to the prevention, care and control of HIV infection and AIDS in Hong Kong. The ACA has published six sets of recommended HIV/AIDS strategies which have served as blueprints for the AIDS response in Hong Kong.

     â€‹For more information on the previous and latest recommended HIV/AIDS strategies published by the ACA, please visit the ACA website (www.aca.gov.hk/english/index.html). For information about the local situation and programme on AIDS, please visit the website of the Virtual AIDS Office of the DH (www.aids.gov.hk).

    

     Organised by the Junior Police Call (JPC) of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and fully supported by the Bank of China (Hong Kong), the JPC Innovation and Technology Competition 2023-24 held its Award Presentation Ceremony cum Carnival at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (May 11). The competition aims to encourage primary and secondary school students to apply STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) knowledge and skills, as well as creative thinking, problem solving and logical reasoning to construct innovative and feasible "Smart City" solutions in the four areas of "Mobility", "Living", "Environment" and "Economy".
      
     The Commissioner of Police, Mr Siu Chak-yee; the General Manager of Information Technology Department of Bank of China (Hong Kong), Mr Yung Fai; the Permanent Secretary for Education, Ms Michelle Li; and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Chow Yat-ming, officiated at the ceremony and presented 88 awards to more than 145 winners.                                                                            
      
     Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Siu said that since its establishment in 1974, the JPC has been dedicated to training young people to become youth leaders and crime-fighting partners. Noting that this year marks the 180th anniversary and 50th anniversary of the establishment of the HKPF and the JPC respectively, he said that the JPC has continued to inject new ideas to meet the needs of young people from different generations over the past 50 years. Members are nurtured through diversified activities and training programmes to cultivate leadership, positive thinking, law-abiding awareness, discipline and team spirit, so as to understand the importance of serving the community.
      
     Mr Siu said that this year's competition has incorporated the themes of "Cyber Security" and "Information Literacy" in the drawing competition of the Junior Primary Category. In addition, the "Best Safe City Award (Cyber Security)" has been added to other categories to encourage young people to promote information literacy through design, and at the same time enhance their awareness of information security risks, online deceptions, and objectionable information, with a view to preventing them from falling into online traps.
      
     He also mentioned that deception, coupled with technology, had exacerbated the problem, resulting in the rising prevalence of deception. He added that the total loss in scams in Hong Kong reached $9.18 billion in 2023, which is equivalent to an average of $25 million per day, with one deception case occurring every 13 minutes. He pointed out that the consequences of deception are far beyond monetary loss, causing long-term emotional and psychological trauma to victims and their families. He called on the public to make good use of technology and pursue efforts to enable everyone in Hong Kong to know about "Scameter+" launched by HKPF, with the objective of achieving continuity and establishing an "Anti-deception Smart City".
      
     In the videos presented during the award presentation ceremony, winning teams shared their experiences of the research and development process and demonstrated the application of technology in different aspects of life, such as cybersecurity, power generation devices and virtual road safety city. The competition also features the "Safest City Award", which encourages participants to showcase innovative solutions in crime prevention and road safety improvement so that Hong Kong will continue to be one of the safest and most stable societies in the world.
      
     The competition was supported by the Education Bureau, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association, the Hong Kong Extra-curricular Activities Masters' Association, the Hong Kong Computer Society, the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Hong Kong STEM Education Alliance and Hong Kong New Emerging Technology Education Association. The competition was divided into four categories, namely junior primary school, senior primary school, junior secondary school and senior secondary school, which attracted over 1,600 students from nearly 170 schools. The list of winning teams has been uploaded onto the JPC website www.hkpjpc.org.hk.
      
     To further encourage the younger generation to engage with innovation and technology, a two-day (May 11 to 12) Innovation and Technology Carnival is being held at the same venue. In addition to the exhibition of award-winning and shortlisted entries, there is a number of game booths with innovation and technology elements. These include the Elite Athletics Games with e-sports game; the Crime-fighting Partner Training Camp to enable the participants to gain a better knowledge and experience of police duties; and the Solar-powered Mars Rover Workshop, which allow participants to experience the fun of science and technology. There is also a zone featuring digital policing, showcasing the smart search and rescue mobile application HKSOS, "Scameter+" and patrol robots to illustrate how the Force leverages technology to enhance operational efficiency.
      
     Over the years, the JPC has endeavoured to provide diversified activities and training for young people. In 2021, it has established the Innovation and Technology Competition and introduced a new strategy, "IDEAS@JPC", which tied in with the subsequently launched annual JPC Award Scheme, with a view to encouraging young people to actively participate in various activities, nurturing more young leaders to join hands in the fight against crime.

              

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 11) that the shark prevention nets at Lido Beach and Casam Beach in Tsuen Wan District have been repaired and the beaches are reopened.

     The beaches were temporarily closed earlier for shark prevention net maintenance work.

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) warmly welcomed and expressed sincere gratitude to the Central Government for further enhancing the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) to cover Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, Hohhot in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, Lhasa in Tibet Autonomous Region, Lanzhou in Gansu Province, Xining in Qinghai Province, Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in response to the HKSARG's proposal to further expand the IVS to let residents of the eight cities to explore Hong Kong's unique appeals as a tourism destination more flexibly and conveniently. Following the expansion of the IVS to Xi'an in Shaanxi Province and Qingdao in Shandong Province starting from March 6, the IVS will cover 59 cities, including all provincial capitals in our country." a Government spokesman said today (May 11).

     "I wish to express my gratitude towards the Central Government's care for Hong Kong and full wing support to Hong Kong's advancement from stability to prosperity. Subsequent to the various measures rolled out this year for supporting and benefitting Hong Kong, the Central Government responded positively again to the HKSARG's proposal to extend the IVS to cover eight cities, making the applicable cities of IVS to 59 and covering all provincial capital cities. This is a measure with significant importance as this is not only boosting the tourism industry and the economic development of Hong Kong in general, but also facilitating the people-to-people bonds between the Mainland and Hong Kong," the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, said.

     "These eight cities are all provincial capital cities with large population, significant economic growth and high spending power. Further expanding the IVS will boost the economic activities of tourism, retail, catering, hotel and other related industries, bringing in huge benefits while promoting the two-way visits between Hong Kong and different provincial capital cities. We look forward to seeing the closer communication of the people between Hong Kong and the eight cities following the enhancement of IVS." Mr Lee said.

     The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, said, "The Central Government has all along been providing staunch support towards Hong Kong's economy and tourism development. IVS visitors are a major driving force for the development of the tourism-related industries in Hong Kong, amongst others. Further enhancement of the IVS is conducive to the economic development of Hong Kong, benefitting various tourism-related industries such as retail, catering, hotel and accommodation. Various Government departments will step up co-ordination and maintain liaison with relevant organisations and the travel trade to establish and enhance the capacity of direct flights with the eight cities, and at the same time ensure smooth operation of boundary control points, tourist and accommodation facilities as well as public transportation networks to welcome visitors. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will immediately step up promotion work in each city and invite representatives from the trade in relevant cities to come to Hong Kong to participate in promotion activities, co-operating with the travel trade to explore relevant source markets. Hong Kong's capacity to receive visitors has been enhanced in the past few years. The Government is confident in providing more visitors from different source markets with quality travel experiences."

     Mr Yeung said that the recovery of Hong Kong's tourism industry was strong in the past year. However, in view of the evolvement of visitors' travel patterns, the travel trade and relevant industries in the HKSAR have to actively adapt to changes, making use of Hong Kong's characteristics to provide visitors with more novel and diversified travel experiences, with high quality service to make them feel at home. The HKSARG will continue to consolidate various sectors in the community to promote warm hospitality through developing novel travel itineraries and products to upgrade the quality of service continuously for achieving "Tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong" to polish Hong Kong's brand as "the best tourism destination".

     He continued to say that with the enhancement of the IVS, there would be more frequent contacts between Hong Kong and residents of eight cities which would strengthen people-to-people bonds. Hong Kong has a unique background with cultural integration and rich tourism resources, including theme parks, country parks, natural ecology, hiking trails, history and heritage, beautiful harbour, stunning nigh view, Eastern and Western cuisines, and uncountable traditional festivals and pop culture activities, to let visitors experience rich and wonderful metropolitan glamour throughout different periods over the year. Just between the period from May to June, Hong Kong has a series of mega events, from Cheung Chau Bun Festival, Celebration Carnival for Buddha's Birthday, French May, Chinese Culture Festival and Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races, etc, as well as large-scale concerts to be held at the Central Harbourfront Event Space. We look forward to welcoming more visitors from different cities to come to explore Hong Kong in depth.

     To introduce Hong Kong's tourist attractions and activities to visitors, the HKTB has consolidated a series of itinerary guides and provided information on different activities on its website DiscoverHongKong.com to facilitate visitors to plan for their itineraries in Hong Kong.

     Under the IVS, which was implemented on July 28, 2003, in accordance with the main document of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, eligible residents of the designated Mainland cities can apply for an endorsement to visit Hong Kong in their individual capacity. The IVS was first introduced in four Guangdong cities (namely Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Foshan) and the number of eligible cities was gradually increased in the following years to a total of 51 Mainland cities in March 2024. With the expansion of the IVS to cover Taiyuan, Hohhot, Harbin, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan and Urumqi starting from May 27, 2024, designated Mainland cities eligible for the IVS will be increased to 59.

     A woman who went missing in Sau Mau Ping has been located.

     Tse Yau-mei, aged 36, went missing after she left her residence in Sau Mau Ping Estate at noon on May 9. Her family made a report to Police yesterday (May 10).

     The woman was located on Seabee Lane, Lantau North last night. She sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.