Secretary for Health to attend 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, will depart for Geneva, Switzerland, today (May 25) to attend the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and to visit pharmaceutical companies and a hospital in Basel and Zurich to enhance exchanges and co-operation on health and medical innovation between the two places.

     Professor Lo will attend the 77th WHA on May 27 (Geneva time) as a member of the Chinese delegation. The theme of this year's Assembly is "All for Health, Health for All ". The key discussions will cover universal health coverage, infection prevention and control, International Health Regulations, antimicrobial resistance, prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, health promotion and WHO's preparedness and response to public health emergencies.

     During his visit in Geneva, Professor Lo will take the opportunity to exchange views with senior officials of the WHO on public health-related issues.

     After attending the WHA, Professor Lo will depart for Basel and Zurich to commence his visit to Switzerland by visiting Novartis, Roche and University Hospital of Zurich to introduce to experts and academics of local medical and pharmaceutical sectors and in the field of health and medical innovation the measures put forward by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to develop into a health and medical innovation hub; enhance the prevailing drug evaluation and registration mechanism and foster clinical trial development.

     The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, will accompany Professor Lo to Switzerland. They will return to Hong Kong on May 31. During Professor Lo's absence, the Under Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee, will be the Acting Secretary for Health.