HONG KONG 2005

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) was set up under the Department of Health on June 1, 2004. The mission of the centre is to achieve effective prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases in Hong Kong in collaboration with local and international stakeholders.

During the first year of operation, CHP has been working towards its objectives and making good progress. To enhance disease surveillance and preparedness for infectious diseases, a Central Notification Office, a 24-hour Hospital Outbreak Response Team and an interim Emergency Response Centre were set up. Management protocols for communicable diseases including plans to ensure sufficient preparation for SARS and an avian influenza/influenza pandemic have been devised, with regular exercises to increase preparedness in handling disease outbreaks. Much effort has been put into the development of information technology — the Public Health Information System and the Laboratory Information System have been launched and the Communicable Disease Information System that enables real-time data exchange on communicable diseases among different sectors in the community is in the pipeline.

To enhance laboratory services, the Centre for Health Protect has strengthened its diagnostic capacity, epidemiological surveillance, data analysis and laboratory safety and quality assurance. Prevention and protection against known diseases was reinforced by improving the control of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. A Board of Scientific Advisors with seven scientific committees was set up in order to pool professional expertise. Training and research programmes were also launched.

In addition to forming its own risk communication strategies and action plans, the centre strengthened communication with the community with the help of District Councils, educational campaigns and publicity programmes. Regional and international collaborative efforts, including meetings, international symposia and attachment/exchange programmes reinforced networks with other health authorities and agencies on the Mainland and in Macao and other countries, and allowed an interchange of professional knowledge and experience in combating diseases. A Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System was also established and fact sheets on environmental health issues were prepared to reinforce the protection against non-communicable diseases and environmental health hazards.

The Health, Welfare and Food Bureau published the Government's Preparedness Plan for an Influenza Pandemic in early 2005. The plan, which adopts a cross-sectoral and population-based approach, enhances government and community preparedness to cope with various avian/pandemic influenza emergencies. It is underpinned by an overall Government emergency response mechanism with a clear command structure and a given set of public health measures which are essential if the Government is to make swift decisions about handling infectious disease outbreaks. In this connection, the Centre for Health Protection organised various publicity and public educational activities on influenza pandemic preparedness for the community at large during the year. They included briefings on influenza pandemic preparedness and business continuity planning for different sectors, for example, government departments, relevant non-governmental organisations and institutions, healthcare professionals, chambers of commerce, consulates-general, utilities and banking and financial sectors.

The centre also conducted regular inter-departmental drills and exercises to ensure that the contingency plans of relevant departments and agencies for infectious disease outbreaks would work well. Three exercises and drills have been conducted since 2004. For example, Exercise POPLAR, an inter-departmental exercise to review contingency plans for managing outbreaks of avian/pandemic influenza in Hong Kong, was conducted in November with the Chief Executive, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food and more than 250 players from over 30 bureaux, departments and organisations taking part.

The centre is also keenly aware that fighting and controlling infectious diseases requires effective communication and cooperation with the Mainland and other neighbours. In October, for instance, Hong Kong signed a Cooperation Agreement on Response Mechanism for Public Health Emergencies with the Mainland and Macao to facilitate the sharing of intelligence, expertise and resources, and hence a prompt response to cross-boundary infectious disease outbreaks. The Guangdong Province, Macao and Hong Kong also make a considerable effort to ensure the prompt and timely exchange of important information about infectious disease outbreaks and incidents.

Health problems in Hong Kong are mostly associated with lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Among the leading causes of death, cancers, diseases of heart and cerebrovascular diseases together accounted for about 55.8 per cent of all registered deaths during the year. These diseases affect mainly elderly people and will continue to dominate the mortality statistics as the population ages.

In 2005, cancers were the top killer in Hong Kong and claimed more than 12 000 lives. A Cancer Coordinating Committee has been established to formulate comprehensive strategic plans and make recommendations for the effective prevention and control of cancer in Hong Kong.

To reduce the number of women developing and dying from cervical cancer, the Department of Health, in collaboration with other healthcare providers, launched a cervical screening programme in 2004 to provide screening service for women aged 25 to 64. In addition, a Cervical Screening Information System has been developed by the Department to collect and analyse data on cervical smears.

Hong Kong now lists 31 statutory notifiable infectious diseases, including three quarantinable diseases: cholera, plague and yellow fever. During the year, 20 192 cases of notifiable infectious diseases were reported, of which 30.9 per cent were due to tuberculosis.

Children in Hong Kong are immunised against tuberculosis, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella. Owing to the high vaccine coverage, diseases such as diphtheria and poliomyelitis have been eradicated and the incidence of other vaccine-preventable infectious diseases among children is relatively low.

The estimated number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Hong Kong is about 3 000. Each year, about 250 new cases of HIV infection are reported. Sexual transmission remains the most common mode of spread of the infection, though in recent years there has been growing concern over reports of HIV infection among injection drug users.