HONG KONG 2005

The Port Health Office of the Department of Health enforces measures stipulated by the Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance and the International Health Regulations to prevent the introduction of quarantinable diseases and other serious infectious diseases into Hong Kong via air, land or sea immigration control points.

Since there was no indication that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome would re-emerge in the near future, health screening measures at land and sea immigration control points were reduced in mid-2004 while temperature screening for incoming travellers was maintained at the Hong Kong International Airport. However, temperature screening of travellers arriving in Hong Kong at various immigration control points have been re-activated in phases since mid-November 2005 as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of spread of avian influenza into Hong Kong following reports of human cases of the disease on the Mainland.

The Port Health Office also operates a Travel Health Service which offers a comprehensive range of services such as medical consultation, vaccination, prophylactic medications and health education to members of the public who intend to travel abroad. The office also collaborates with the travel industry and disseminates travel health information via health exhibitions and a website (www.travelhealth.gov.hk).

The Radiation Health Unit of the Department of Health is the Government's adviser on radiation safety and protection. It advises the Government on the health effects of radiation fields and protection of public health in areas such as nuclear incidents and management of radioactive materials and waste. It also serves as the executive arm of the Radiation Board, which is the statutory authority set up under the Radiation Ordinance to control the import, export, possession and use of radioactive substances and irradiating apparatus. It safeguards public health against ionising radiation through licensing control and inspection of premises where radioactive substances or irradiating apparatuses are present. It also carries out radiation monitoring for occupationally exposed persons, maintains the radiation dosimetry metrology standards for the environmental level and occupational protection level radiation dosimetry measurements of Hong Kong, and provides the related standard calibration services.

In 2005, the unit assessed and issued 8 987 licences and permits and provided radiation monitoring for 8 647 occupationally exposed people. The average radiation exposure of the occupationally exposed people was 0.08 mSv against an annual statutory limit of 20 mSv.

The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong is responsible for devising and implementing regulatory measures for Chinese medicine.

Subsidiary legislation for the registration of Chinese medicine practitioners was enacted in June 2000. The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong conducted Part I and Part II of the 2005 Chinese Medicine Practitioners Licensing Examination in June and August. By year-end, 5 133 and 2 957 Chinese medicine practitioners were registered and listed respectively with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong.

Subsidiary legislation on Chinese medicines was passed by the Legislative Council in 2003 to allow applications for Chinese medicine trader licences and the registration of proprietary Chinese medicines. By the end of 2005, 8 040 trader licence applications and 16 116 applications for proprietary Chinese medicine registration had been received.

Western medicines in Hong Kong are regulated under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. Acting on the authority of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, the Department of Health registers and approves the marketing of pharmaceutical products, issues licences to drug manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers, and takes action against the illegal sale of controlled drugs in collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force. Legislative controls are also enforced on poisons, antibiotics and dangerous drugs. During the year, 3 846 applications for registration of pharmaceutical products were approved. At year-end, there were 20 037 pharmaceutical products registered in Hong Kong.

Under existing legislation, 12 types of health care professionals are required to be registered with their respective boards or councils before they are allowed to practise in Hong Kong. At year-end, the total number of professionals registered with their respective boards and councils were: 11 505 doctors, 1 941 dentists, 5 133 Chinese medicine practitioners, 35 465 nurses (including registered and enrolled nurses), 4 917 midwives, 1 583 pharmacists, 86 chiropractors, 1 953 physiotherapists, 1 185 occupational therapists, 2 560 medical laboratory technologists, 1 927 optometrists and 1 579 radiographers.