The Public Health Group of the SARS Expert Committee got an
overview of the Hong Kong outbreak in meetings with government and
Hospital Authority officials Monday.
During their first day in the five days of work in Hong Kong, the
group met Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Carrie
Yau and was briefed by Hospital Authority Chief Executive William
Ho on the management of SARS in public hospitals.
The group also met Director of Health Dr Margaret Chan to
learnabout health control measures implemented during the outbreak
and the department's contact tracing work.
Group chairman Professor Sian Griffiths, president of the Faculty
of Public Health Medicine of the UK's Royal Colleges of Physicians,
said they will learn lessons through listening, and make
recommendations for future emergent diseases.
"It is very much about listening, learning some lessons and helping
our colleagues in Hong Kong," she said, adding that there are also
lessons for the international community to learn for the
future.
The SARS Expert Committee, comprising the Public Health Group and
the Management and Executive Group, was set up in May. The
Committee's 12 members were all appointed by Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa.
(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2003)
