Tag Archives: China

Attention TV and radio duty announcers:      Please broadcast the following special announcement as soon as possible, and repeat it at suitable intervals:      A fire broke out in a garage at Pak … read more

     A fire broke out at Pak Sha Tsuen, Yuen Long at 0.14am today (November 7), and was upgraded to No. 3 alarm at 0.49am.      Firemen are using two jets and mobilising two breathing apparatus teams to fight the blaze…. read more

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (November 6) provided an update on the investigation of the suspected Mycobacterium abscessus infection cluster. There are no additional cases identified today and currently the suspected Mycobacterium abscessus infection cluster involved a total of 17 females.

     The CHP has set up for the related cases an enquiry hotline (2125 2372), which operates from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) from 9am to 5.30pm to receive enquiries. The hotline was set up on November 3 and as of 3pm today, 13 calls were received, among which five females, aged 25 to 32, said that they had received relevant injection services and developed compatible symptoms.

     In addition, the CHP has not identified new premises involved in the cases since the set-up of the hotline. The CHP again appeals to persons who have patronised the premises announced on November 3, or have arranged and received relevant injections via the relevant Instagram social media accounts after which they presented with relevant symptoms, should seek medical attention and call the hotline immediately. Officers of the CHP will assess their condition and arrange for follow-ups as appropriate.
 
     Based on information obtained in a preliminary investigation, the CHP cannot rule out the possibility of illegal medical practice. Investigations are ongoing.

     The DH reminded members of the public that injection procedures should only be performed by a locally registered doctor. Customers should look for his or her full name against the list of registered doctors of the Medical Council of Hong Kong as well as his or her professional qualifications and relevant experience. The DH also urged the public to observe the health advice below before receiving injections:
 

• Understand the procedure, potential risks and complications before receiving injections. Consult a doctor for an informed decision;
• Do not receive an injection in the case of a history of allergy to the injection, or infection or inflammation on the injection site;
• Request the full name of the doctor in writing if referred by a beauty service provider for the procedure, as well as the professional qualifications and relevant experience; and
• If symptoms develop, such as fever or feeling unwell, seek medical attention immediately.

     â€‹The public may visit the DH’s webpage on the differentiation between medical procedures and beauty services and the Drug Database of the Drug Office for more information. read more

     The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, visited the Information Services Department (ISD) today (November 6) to know about its latest developments and the challenges it faced in its operations. She encouraged colleagues to continue to do their utmost in the publicity and promotion of the Chief Executive’s 2023 Policy Address and the 2023 District Council (DC) Ordinary Election.

     Mrs Yeung pointed out that the Policy Address has put forward a series of measures for building a vibrant economy, and it is vitally important to promote the city’s unique strengths and opportunities to overseas countries and the Mainland at this moment. She said, “The DC Election on December 10 is the first large-scale territory-wide election being held after the improved district governance structure. It is the key to enhancing the efficacy of district governance and is relevant to the improvement of people’s livelihood. The new DCs hold great significance as they will focus their attention on livelihood issues, perform their function of providing district advisories and services, and facilitate the development of district affairs and livelihood. I urge members of the public, including civil service colleagues, to cast their vote on the polling day and work together for an even more stable and prosperous future for Hong Kong. The ISD colleagues, apart from making concerted efforts in the media and publicity work relating to the DC Election, should also spare time to cast their vote on the polling day.”
 
     Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Clement Leung, Mrs Yeung met with the Director of Information Services, Mr Fletch Chan, and the directorate staff to learn about how the ISD tells the good stories of the city and the country through diversified measures, including the production of publicity materials in collaboration with major local, Mainland and international media, as well as the use of social media and digital platforms.
 
     Mrs Yeung then visited the News Sub-division, which is responsible for issuing all government press releases, photographs and video clips, to know more about its 24-hour press enquiry service. She also toured the Digital Media Sub-division where she was briefed on means to disseminate correct information on the Internet and social media, including the setting up of a clarifications section on the website of news.gov.hk and making use of the social media pages of “Tamar Talk” and news.gov.hk to provide correct information to netizens.
 
     At the Audio-Visual Section of the Creative Sub-division, Mrs Yeung was shown news and feature videos it produced for the promotion of government policies and events. She also exchanged views with staff of the Media Research Sub-division to understand how the sub-division facilitates review of the effectiveness of major policy decisions or execution plans so as to improve the policies.

     During the visit, Mrs Yeung was also briefed on the department’s latest effort in public relations and promotions locally and outside Hong Kong while conversing with staff from the Creative Sub-division, the Local Promotions Sub-division, the International Promotions Sub-division, the Overseas Public Relations Sub-division and the Brand Hong Kong Management Unit.

     Before concluding her visit, Mrs Yeung met with staff representatives to exchange views on issues of concern.

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     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, led a delegation and started a three-day visit to Beijing today (November 6) to meet officials of the National Health Commission (NHC), the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) and the Chinese Medical Association, and introduced to them the latest developments of various healthcare policies in Hong Kong, with a view to pursuing deeper exchanges with the Mainland in the healthcare aspect and realising the implementation of various initiatives announced in the recent Policy Address in relation to collaboration with the Mainland.
          
     During a morning meeting with the Deputy Director General of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the NHC, Mr He Shaohua, Professor Lo introduced the 10 initiatives aiming to enhance the quality of public healthcare services in Hong Kong and transform healthcare innovations into industry development. The 10 initiatives put forward by the Chief Executive as announced in the Policy Address last month include the development of Hong Kong into a health and medical innovation hub, cross-boundary medical collaboration, healthcare manpower, digital healthcare records, oral health, primary healthcare, mental health, Chinese medicine development, enhancement to public healthcare services and combating communicable diseases.
          
     Professor Lo emphasised, “The Health Bureau leads the overall healthcare system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), formulates policies and allocates resources, with the safeguarding and promotion of public health at the top of its priority list. Hong Kong has all along been keeping its healthcare system abreast of the times through utilisation of technology and pressing ahead with reform and innovation. At the same time, the HKSAR Government will continue to fully leverage the city’s medical strength in developing Hong Kong into a health and medical innovation hub and proactively boosting medical innovation and collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), so as to rally concerted efforts to build a ‘Healthy Hong Kong’ for integration into the nation’s strategic planning of ‘Healthy China’, thereby making contributions to the development of the GBA and that of the whole nation.”
          
     The delegation then proceeded to visit the GACC in the afternoon and met with its CPC Committee Member and Head of Guangdong Sub-Administration, Mr Li Kuiwen. Professor Lo first introduced the recommendation to discuss with other GBA cities on the provision of a cross-boundary ambulance service raised in the Policy Address. He said, “Our goal is to enable direct point-to-point hospital transfers of patients who are in suitable medical condition and with pressing need so as to offer better support to residents in the GBA.”

     When discussing organ donation, Professor Lo mentioned in particular a baby girl, Tsz-hei, whose case was the first of receiving a heart donated gratis across the boundary from a brain-dead Mainland child, and also a successful transplant surgery performed at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital at the end of last year. He said, “I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the GACC and relevant Mainland authorities again for their strong support and co-ordination in saving a life with collective efforts. The collaboration fully exemplifies the shared principle and mission of the Mainland and Hong Kong in protecting lives, which is of great significance.”

     Professor Lo and the delegation then met with the President of the Chinese Medical Association, Mr Zhao Yupei, and discussed the professional exchanges among healthcare personnel from the Mainland and Hong Kong. Professor Lo said, “The HKSAR Government is pressing ahead actively with healthcare exchanges and co-operation along various fronts between the Mainland and Hong Kong, with a view to exploring a refined co-ordination mechanism on cross-boundary medical services. The establishment of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Medical Specialist Training Centre in the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) in 2019 by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM), the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, the Shenzhen Medical Doctor Association, and the HKU-SZH was the fruitful outcome of seamless co-operation between the two places. Riding on the specialist training model and experience of the HKAM, and taking into account the practical situation on the Mainland, the Training Centre built a standardised specialist training framework which is on par with international practices and recognised by the Mainland. This serves as a pioneer demonstration in fostering the nurturing of medical talent in Shenzhen, the GBA and the nation as a whole.”

     Professor Lo believes that more in-depth exchanges among healthcare personnel from the Mainland and Hong Kong would set the stage for the steady development of the nation’s and the GBA’s healthcare sectors under the principles of complementarity and mutual benefits as well as on the premise of benefiting healthcare development on the Mainland and in Hong Kong.

     The delegation also visited Beijing Tiantan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University this morning to learn about the hospital’s latest moves in fostering smart hospital development. Professor Lo shared with healthcare personnel there the details of the HKSAR Government’s five-year plan in rolling out eHealth+ which was set out in the Policy Address. The plan will transform the Electronic Health Record Sharing System into a comprehensive healthcare information infrastructure to actualise an effectively connected digital healthcare data network for immediate access and sharing of health records by healthcare service providers in the public and private sectors. The transformation is essential to the facilitation and co-ordination of the delivery of continuous healthcare for individuals and the collection of essential and accurate health surveillance data for effective healthcare policy and services planning for the population as a whole.
          
     The delegation consists of members including the Permanent Secretary for Health, Mr Thomas Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Henry Fan; and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko.  They will continue the second-day visit tomorrow.

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