Tag Archives: China

     Police will implement special traffic arrangements in various districts on June 18 (Monday) to facilitate the public to watch dragon boat races and to ensure smooth vehicular traffic movement and pedestrian safety. &n… read more

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (June 15) investigating a case of severe paediatric enterovirus (EV) infection, and again urged the public and institutions to maintain strict hand, personal and environmental hygiene.

     The case involves a 2-month-old baby boy with good past health, who has presented with fever, cough, runny nose, vomiting and diarrhoea since June 7. He was admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital for medical treatment on June 11 and is now in a stable condition.

     His cerebrospinal fluid specimen tested positive for EV upon laboratory testing. The clinical diagnosis was meningitis.

     Initial enquiries revealed that the patient had no recent travel history. His home contacts remain asymptomatic so far. Investigations are ongoing.

     A spokesman for the CHP said that as EV infection is transmitted by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, the public should be vigilant and observe the following preventive measures:
 

• Wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet and changing diapers;
• Cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing;
• Maintain good ventilation; and
• Thoroughly clean toys or appliances which are contaminated by nasal or oral secretions.

    
     Children suffering from EV infection should stay at home and avoid contact with other children until they have recovered.

     The public may visit the CHP’s page on hand, foot and mouth disease and EV71 infection for more information. read more

     A woman aged 19 was arrested today (June 15) in a joint operation by the Department of Health (DH) and the Police for suspected illegal sale of a slimming product called “MΛTCHΛ SURIMU”, which is suspected to contain an undeclared banned drug ingredient.
 
     From the DH’s market surveillance, a sample of the above slimming product was purchased from an Internet seller for analysis. Test results from the Government Laboratory revealed that the sample contains sibutramine, which is a Part 1 poison under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap 138). During today’s operation, the Police arrested the seller for suspected illegal sale of an unregistered pharmaceutical product and Part 1 poison.
 
     The DH’s investigation is ongoing.
 
     Sibutramine was once used as an appetite suppressant. Since November 2010, products containing sibutramine have been banned in Hong Kong because of increased cardiovascular risk.
 
     According to the Ordinance, all pharmaceutical products must be registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong before they can be legally sold in the market. Part 1 poisons can only be sold in a pharmacy under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Illegal sale of Part 1 poisons and unregistered pharmaceutical products are criminal offences. The maximum penalty for each offence is a fine of $100,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
 
     A spokesman for the DH strongly urged members of the public not to buy products of unknown or doubtful composition, or to consume products from unknown sources. All registered pharmaceutical products should carry a Hong Kong registration number on the package in the format of HK-XXXXX. Unregistered pharmaceutical products have not been evaluated by the Board and their safety, quality and efficacy are not guaranteed.
 
     “Weight control should be achieved through a balanced diet and appropriate exercise. The public should consult healthcare professionals before using any medication for weight control,” the spokesman advised.
 
      The public may visit the DH Drug Office’s pages for health messages on weight control and slimming products and information on slimming products with undeclared Western drug ingredients.
 
     Members of the public who have purchased the above product should stop consuming it immediately. They should consult healthcare professionals for advice if they feel unwell or in doubt after consuming the product. They may submit the product to the DH’s Drug Office at Room 1856, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, during office hours for disposal.

read more

     The Labour Department (LD) is investigating a fatal work accident in Pat Heung this afternoon (June 15), in which a man died.      The LD immediately deployed staff to the scene upon receiving a report of… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting next Wednesday (June 20) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on cross-boundary elderly care.

     The motion, moved by Mr Leung Che-cheung, states: “That, all along, quite a number of elderly persons in Hong Kong have chosen to spend their twilight years on the Mainland, but the current cross-boundary portability arrangements for welfare benefits made by the SAR Government have a very narrow scope, benefiting only eligible elderly persons who are receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments or the Old Age Allowance and have moved to reside in Guangdong or Fujian Province on the Mainland; to facilitate more elderly persons in spending their twilight years on the Mainland, this Council urges the SAR Government to:
 

1. extend the arrangements of the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme to other provinces on the Mainland;
    
2. introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Old Age Living Allowance to support eligible elderly persons who are receiving the allowance and have moved to the Mainland;
    
3. abolish the existing absence limit for various welfare benefits under the Social Security Allowance Scheme, and conduct a study on developing an identity verification system with the relevant Mainland departments to obviate the need for elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland to return to Hong Kong for making applications for continuous collection of such benefits on a yearly basis;
    
4. introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Disability Allowance such that eligible elderly persons with disabilities aged 65 or above can choose to reside on the Mainland;
    
5. optimise the existing Pilot Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong by, for example, purchasing residential care places for persons with disabilities from Mainland residential care homes, and purchasing more quality residential care places for the elderly in various major cities on the Mainland, as well as providing needy elderly persons who choose to reside on the Mainland with one-stop escort arrangements for travelling to and from Hong Kong;
    
6. conduct a study on the implementation of a scheme for the transfer of medical records of Hong Kong residents under which, with the consent of the elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland, their medical records will be transferred to designated Mainland hospitals so that they can seek medical consultation conveniently;
    
7. conduct a study on extending the scope of application of Hong Kong’s Health Care Vouchers to cover major hospitals and clinics on the Mainland, with a view to alleviating the burden of medical expenses on elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland;
    
8. by drawing reference from the model of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, co-establish hospitals in major Mainland cities by Hong Kong and the Mainland and adopt Hong Kong-style management to jointly provide quality healthcare services to elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland; and
    
9. by drawing reference from the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, conduct a study on providing elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland with support services for ageing in place.”

     Dr Priscilla Leung, Mr Wong Kwok-kin and Mr Alvin Yeung will move separate amendments to Mr Leung’s motion.

     Mr Ma Fung-kwok will move a motion on developing venues and creating room to support the development of local culture, arts, recreation and sports. The motion states: “That the lack of venues and room has all along been plaguing local cultural, arts and sports groups, and it is also an important barrier to the development of local culture, recreation and sports; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to take every possible means to create more venues and room for the local cultural, arts and sports sector, so as to promote further development of local culture, arts and sports; the relevant measures include:
 

1. building more cultural venues and sports facilities, and expeditiously implementing the outstanding leisure and cultural services projects of the former municipal councils;
    
2. reviewing the policy on industrial buildings and updating the definition of ‘use of industrial buildings’, so that cultural, arts and sports groups can operate in industrial buildings in a sensible, reasonable and lawful manner, and ensuring that future policies proposed on revitalising industrial buildings will be able to cater to the development needs of such groups and safeguard their room for survival;
    
3. making better use of vacant school premises and vacant sites for cultural, arts or sports purposes;
    
4. opening up more public spaces for cultural and arts purposes;
    
5. enhancing the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme, including providing more assistance to schools that open up their school facilities, and extending the scheme to make it accessible by cultural and arts groups;
    
6. enhancing the leasing policy for government venues to make such venues available for full utilisation by cultural, arts and sports groups, and curbing the recurrence of touting activities; and
    
7. stipulating in the land lease covenants of suitable new development projects that developers should set aside space to develop certain cultural and arts facilities that have been compressed by market and business factors, such as performance venues and bookshops.”

 
     Mrs Regina Ip, Ms Tanya Chan, Mr Lau Kwok-fan and Mr‍ Au‍ Nok-hin will move separate amendments to Mr Ma’s motion.
 
     In addition, Mr Cheung Kwok-kwan, Mr Holden Chow, Mr Charles Mok and Mr Frankie Yick will each move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance.
 
     Mr Cheung will move a proposed resolution to extend the period for amending the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (Commencement) Notice, the Securities and Futures (Open-ended Fund Companies) Rules and the Securities and Futures (Open-ended Fund Companies) (Fees) Regulation, laid on the table of the Council on May 23, 2018, to the meeting of July 11, 2018.
 
     Mr Chow will move a proposed resolution to extend the period for amending the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018, laid on the table of the Council on May 23, 2018, to the meeting of July 11, 2018.
 
     Mr Mok will move a proposed resolution to extend the period for amending the Telecommunications (Designation of Frequency Bands subject to Payment of Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Amendment) Order 2018, the Telecommunications (Level of Spectrum Utilization Fees) (Second Generation Mobile Services) (Amendment) Regulation 2018, the Telecommunications (Determining Spectrum Utilization Fees by Auction) (Amendment) Regulation 2018 and the Telecommunications (Method for Determining Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Administratively Assigned Spectrum in the 1800 MHz Band) Regulation, laid on the table of the Council on May 23, 2018, to the meeting of July 11, 2018.
 
     Mr Yick will move a proposed resolution to extend the period for amending the Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) Order 2018, the Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) (North Lantau and Hong Kong International Airport) Order 2018, the Schedule of Routes (Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited) Order 2018 , the Schedule of Routes (Long Win Bus Company Limited) Order 2018, the Schedule of Routes (New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited) Order 2018 and the Schedule of Routes (New World First Bus Services Limited) Order 2018, laid on the table of the Council on May 23, 2018, to the meeting of July 11, 2018.
 
     Mr James To will move a proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to repeal the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018 laid on the table of the Council on May 23, 2018.
 
     On Government motion, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development will move a proposed resolution under the Import and Export Ordinance to seek the Council to approve the Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 2018 made by the Chief Executive in Council on May 29, 2018.
 
     On bills, the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2018 will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
 
     The Second Reading debate on the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 will also resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.
 
     Meanwhile, Members will ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
 
     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found on the LegCo Website.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the “Webcast” system on the LegCo Website. read more