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Hong Kong today (June 7) took part in the first regional exercise on flu pandemic, organised by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to test the emergency responses and communication efficiency among its 21 member economies.
The one-day desk-top exercise, known as APEC Pandemic Response Exercise 2006, is part of the APEC Initiative on Preparing for and Mitigating an Influenza Pandemic, which committed all its members to maintain effective surveillance, transparency and openness, as well as close co-ordination and collaboration.
The exercise scenario concerns the human-to-human transmission of avian flu in countries in the region leading to a pandemic level.
About 20 representatives from the Department of Health (DH), the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau (HWFB) took part in the exercise.
A DH spokesman said no ground movement was involved as the focus of the exercise was to test the effectiveness of the APEC member economies in sharing information and providing regional assistance as well as providing advice to bordering economies and other regional partners.
Hong Kong has also taken the opportunity to review the communication protocol of DH, including communication with HWFB and HA.
"The exercise enabled us to critically review protocols which have been formulated for managing the communication aspects of a public health emergency. Shortcomings identified will be fine tuned so as to further gear up Hong Kong's preparedness," the spokesman said.
"It also provided a very good opportunity for us to consider other issues, such as what assistance Hong Kong can offer to its regional partners in terms of laboratory support, public health education materials, etc, which do not normally form part of most local exercises," he added.
Ends/Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:13
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