Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ13: Vaccination

Following is a question by the Hon Alice Mak and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (May 27):

Question:

The Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme (Programme), implemented by the Centre for Health Protection under the Department of Health, provides vaccination for eligible children in Hong Kong for the prevention of 11 types of infectious diseases such as measles and varicella. On the other hand, it has been reported that the numbers of measles cases in Hong Kong and many places in the world have shown a rising trend in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective vaccination rates of the various vaccines under the Programme in each of the past five years;

(2) whether parents have the right under the existing mechanism to refuse to make arrangements for their children to be vaccinated; if they do, of the types of vaccines involved, the number of such cases in the past five years, and the reasons for their refusal of vaccination; whether the authorities have put in place measures to follow up such cases; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) of the criteria based on which the authorities determine whether to include a certain type of vaccine in the Programme; whether there is plan in the short term to include more types of vaccines in the Programme; if there is, of the details;

(4) whether the authorities regularly update the list of vaccines under the Programme; if they do, of the intervals between the updates; if not, the reasons for that; and

(5) whether the authorities assessed the effectiveness of the Programme in the past three years; if they did, of the outcome?

Reply:

President,

(1) The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD) under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) makes recommendations regarding the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme (HKCIP) from the public health perspective. Children from birth to primary six will receive different types of vaccines and boosters under the HKCIP in order to be protected from eleven infectious diseases, namely, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus, pneumococcal infection, chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella.

Under the HKCIP, these vaccines are given at birth in hospitals, during pre-school period by DH's Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs), or in primary schools by DH's outreaching School Immunisation Teams. The Student Health Service Centres under the DH also provides mop-up vaccination to secondary school students. Also, parents may have their children vaccinated in private medical sector at their own expenses.

DH had conducted territory-wide immunisation surveys in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 respectively among children aged two to five to monitor the coverage rate. Results of these surveys showed that the immunisation coverage rates were consistently high at or above 94 per cent for the respective birth cohorts (Annex 1). Immunisation coverage rates for primary school students are summarised in Annex 2.

(2) DH provides vaccine information through various media, including web pages, information hotlines, information pamphlets. DH also provides individual health advice on a case-by-case basis to parents in MCHCs, in order to encourage vaccination. All vaccinations are voluntary. If parents refuse to have their children vaccinated, the healthcare personnel of MCHCs will try to understand and explain if there are any misconceptions about vaccinations. They will also explain the risks of not receiving vaccination so that parents can make informed choices. DH does not keep statistics of cases of refusing to receive vaccinations.

(3) and (4) DH formulates the HKCIP according to the recommendations of the SCVPD, including incorporation of vaccines into the HKCIP and their vaccination arrangements. SCVPD has been closely monitoring the changes in global and local epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases and reviewing scientific developments, including the application of new vaccines, vaccine formulations and cost-effectiveness, as well as the experiences of other health authorities, in order to provide science-based advice. SCVPD regularly holds meetings among experts and comes up with recommendations for the HKCIP. CHP will make reference to these recommendations when reviewing and updating the HKCIP. For example, the pneumococcal vaccine and varicella vaccine were incorporated into the HKCIP in September 2009 and July 2014 respectively.

(5) CHP has been closely monitoring the local prevalence of vaccine preventable diseases, and conducting epidemiological investigation and analysis of clinical data in order to assess the effectiveness of immunisation programme. Routine health promotion activities on immunisation are also in place to raise and sustain high immunisation coverage. In the past decades, there was a marked decline in incidence and mortality of relevant diseases due to vaccination, such as a significantly reduced number of measles cases reported since the introduction of the measles-containing vaccine in 1967, as well as the confirmed eradication of poliomyelitis in 2000. This has proven that vaccination is effective in controlling relevant diseases.

Ends/Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:10

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LCQ13 Annex