Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ1: Notification mechanism on serious diseases
Following is a question by the Hon Michael Mak Kwok-fung and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (April 30):
Question :
On 12th of this month, the Chief Executive met the President of the State in Shenzhen. During the meeting, the Chief Executive reported on the development of atypical pneumonia in Hong Kong and the series of measures taken by the HKSAR Government to combat the disease, and said that the HKSAR Government would strengthen the cooperation and exchanges with Guangdong Province in this respect. The President pledged full support of the Central Government should the SAR require the help of the Mainland, for example in acquiring medical supplies and protective gears. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the issue of setting up a notification mechanism on serious diseases between the governments of HKSAR and Guangdong Province was raised during the meeting; if so, of the details and progress of the notification mechanism; of the consensus reached between the two governments on the prevention and treatment of atypical pneumonia, and whether they will consider formulating common preventive and treatment measures to combat the disease;
(b) whether, in consideration of the facilities and equipment of the HKSAR Government at present, it has assessed the need to receive material assistance from the Central Government; if it has, of the assessment results; if it has not, of the measures taken and the additional facilities or equipment provided to reduce the risks of infection on frontline health care personnel; and
(c) whether it is aware of the amount of money spent by the Hospital Authority ("HA") since the outbreak of atypical pneumonia on purchasing supplies and equipment and employing additional staff to combat the disease; whether HA has assessed the time and the amount of money required to combat the disease, and whether the Government's creation of a commitment of $200 million for HA, the Department of Health, the Information Services Department and other bureaux/departments to combat the disease, is sufficient for providing HA with the amount of money it requires; if it has, of the assessment results; if HA considers the commitment to be insufficient for providing the amount of money HA requires, whether HA has plans to seek additional financial support from the Government?
Answer :
Madam President,
(a) On April 12, 2003, the President of the Central People's Government met the Chief Executive of the HKSAR. Further strengthening of cooperation between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong in the prevention and treatment of infectious atypical pneumonia was discussed at the meeting.
The first meeting of the Guangdong Province - Hong Kong Expert Group on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Atypical Pneumonia was held on April 17 and 18 in Guangzhou. The two sides agreed to further improve the notification mechanism for infectious atypical pneumonia and will pass to each other regularly the latest information on the disease which would include relevant statistics as well as clinical treatment, epidemiological investigations, and progress on pathological study. Both sides agreed to set up a point-to-point exchange mechanism between counterpart organisations to enhance communication and to draw on each other's experience in disease control. The two sides also agreed to expand the existing scope of information exchange on infectious diseases by including cholera, dengue fever, malaria, influenza and tuberculosis to facilitate control and prevention.
The experts had in-depth discussions on the clinical treatment, epidemiology and pathology and co-operation in scientific research in the prevention and treatment of atypical pneumonia. Experts from Hong Kong visited medical institutions in Guangzhou and exchanged views with local experts and medical staff. These visits had enhanced our understanding of the work of the Guangdong Province on the prevention and treatment of atypical pneumonia.
(b) The Hospital Authority (HA) is responsible for the provision of facilities and equipment for use by public hospitals in the fight against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Procurement of protective gears, such as goggles, masks, jackets and trousers, gowns, disposable caps and gloves, is centrally co-ordinated to ensure continuous supply and to meet demand in accordance with assessed priorities. HA keeps a stock of fourteen days of these gears, and there are weekly supplies locally, from the Mainland and overseas. As at April 22, 2003, the items that HA has bought and received include 18.9 million surgical masks, 3.5 million N95 masks, 137 000 linen gowns and 2.4 million disposable gowns, 1.7 million disposable caps, 17.2 million pairs of disposable gloves, 272 000 eye shields and 68 000 face shields. Current supply of standard items is steady and adequate. HA also keeps stock of higher level protective gears, such as "Barrier Man" (coveralls for use in areas which require greater protection), which are sourced from the USA and Mainland. In this connection, the use of Barrier Man is being piloted in SARS wards in the Prince of Wales Hospital and Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital. About 790 sets of ventilators are available for use by all patients (including SARS patients) requiring ventilator support. As at April 24, about 100 of the 120 SARS patients in the intensive care units (ICU) of public hospitals were on ventilators. The number of ventilators available is thus adequate to meet service demand.
The Government provides protective gears, including face masks, gowns, caps, gloves, goggles and shoe covers, to staff of the Department of Health involved in infection control activities relating to SARS, such as the investigation into the spread of the disease, contact-tracing activities and quarantine programmes. The Government Supplies Department has been assisting in the bulk purchase of the necessary protective gears and continuous supply is maintained.
The Central Government has pledged full support to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) in the fight against SARS. In this connection, the Central Government has already agreed to provide HKSARG with 400 000 protective gowns, 200 000 goggles and 1 000 000 mouth masks. HKSARG will closely monitor the supply of facilities and equipment in the fight against SARS, and will seek assistance from the Central Government when and where necessary.
(c) Since the outbreak of SARS, HA has spent around $120 million for purchasing supplies and equipment and employing additional staff to combat the disease, of which about 40 per cent of the amount spent was for the procurement of protective gears. SARS is a new respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus never before seen in humans. At this stage, much still remains unknown about SARS and there is insufficient basis to predict its future pattern which would impact on the extent and duration of the spread of SARS, and in turn the amount of resources required to combat the disease. Taking into account the approved expenditure and the indicative funding requirements of HA, the Department of Health, Government Supplies Department and Information Services Department, indications are that the Government will need to seek the Finance Committee's approval to allocate additional funds on top of the $200 million already approved by the Committee to support the fight against SARS. We are carefully monitoring the funding requirements, and shall seek the approval of the Finance Committee for additional funding in the near future.
End/Wednesday, April 30, 2003
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