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The Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao health authorities today (November 13) organised a joint exercise, code-named Great Wall, on emergency response for a major infectious disease. It aimed to test the emergency response and notification mechanism of the three places in handling cross-border public health emergencies.
The exercise was conducted simultaneously in the three places this morning and a total of about 40 public health professionals participated in this desktop communication exercise through channels such as telephone, facsimile, email and so on. Participating organisations in Hong Kong include the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, Department of Health and Hospital Authority.
The exercise depicted a scenario whereby a suspected human case of avian influenza was detected on the Mainland. The Ministry of Health immediately notified the health authorities in Hong Kong and Macao of the case. As the patient had travelled to Hong Kong and Macao before the onset of illness, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health and the Health Bureau in Macao immediately started epidemiological investigations and implemented emergency response measures. The two authorities also notified the Ministry of Health of their investigation results.
The exercise ended when the Hong Kong and Macao authorities received notification from the Mainland that the patient was recovered and discharged from hospital.
The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, also paid a visit to the CHP's Emergency Response Centre to observe the conduct of the exercise. "The three places signed the Co-operation Agreement on Response Mechanism for Public Health Emergencies in Kunming in October last year to enhance collaboration in handling major infectious diseases and agreed to conduct a joint exercise," he said.
"Exercise Great Wall further strengthens the communication and collaboration among the three places in emergency preparedness and response for public health crisis. It also highlighted the importance of timely notification and collaboration for the prevention of avian influenza and pandemic influenza."
According to the Cooperation Agreement, should cross-border public health emergencies occur among the three or any two places, the concerned health authorities would immediately notify the others, activate the emergency response mechanism, and form a joint public health emergency response team to coordinate the response measures.
The Director of Health, Dr PY Lam, said that the three places had convened a tele-conference this morning, and that such mode of communication could further enhance the communication and emergency response capabilities of the three places.
Ends/Monday, November 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:01
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