Press Releases

SHWF opens SARS clinical management workshop

Clinicians and medical experts from different parts of the world gathered in Hong Kong to share their knowledge and experience in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) clinical management at a two-day workshop.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the SARS Clinical Management Workshop today (June 13), the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, said the workshop would gather the best currently available clinical evidence in the management of SARS and control of infection in health care settings by bringing together experience in different countries.

This interactive and participative workshop would focus on three aspects of SARS management: clinical presentation and progression of disease, treatment modalities, and nosocomial infection and infection control, Dr Yeoh said.

The intensive sessions of the two-day workshop would result in the formulation of a consensus document, providing the scientific base for SARS clinical management and to guide further research. The consensus document would be presented to WHO Global Conference on SARS in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 17 and 18.

Dr Yeoh said: "The consensus document will signify a milestone in our efforts to harness the very best treatment regiment in the battle against SARS.

"This gathering will also be a living testament to the collaborative partnership that the World Health Organisation has worked so tirelessly to foster, irrespective of race or national boundaries.

"It is only through such global partnership that effective measures on the prevention and control of infectious diseases can be put in place," Dr Yeoh said.

"I am confident that by joining hands and putting heads together, we will ultimately prevail over the SARS virus," he added.

Dr Yeoh said although much remained unknown about the disease, unprecedented progress had been made by the local and international scientific community.

"I am heartened by the fact that the majority of SARS patients have recovered or on the road to recovery.

"This is due in no small part to the dedication and professionalism of our health care staff and scientists, support from the community, and the resilience of the patients themselves.

"On behalf of the patients and their families, and the wider community, I would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to the clinicians, scientists and other health care workers for their selfless dedication in treating the disease at the very frontline," he added.

The SARS Clinical Management Workshop was co-organised by the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the World Health Organisation. Over 120 clinicians and medical experts from USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Beijing, Guangdong and Hong Kong; as well as WHO's representatives took part.

Also officiating at this morning's opening ceremony were Dr Mark Salter and Dr Mike Ryan from WHO's Office of Communicable Disease Surveillance.

End/Friday, June 13, 2003
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