Press Releases

SFH visits Australia

The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, will visit Australia from tomorrow (April 16) to next Monday (April 20) to study the country's health insurance system, and pharmaceutical and food regulatory regime.

His first stop is Canberra where he will call on the Private Health Insurance Administration Council to learn more about the country's regulatory regime for private health insurance industry.

During his stay in Canberra, Dr Chow will meet senior officials of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Department of Health and Ageing as well as the Food Standards Australia New Zealand to get an update on their pharmaceutical and food regulatory regime.

The second stop is Melbourne where Dr Chow will visit Royal Children's Hospital which is a specialist paediatric hospital and provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and preventive programmes for children and adolescents. The hospital is internationally recognised as a leading centre for research and education. The experience drawn from the visit will be conducive to Hong Kong's preparation for the setting up of the Centre of Excellence in Paediatrics.

While in Melbourne, Dr Chow will meet senior staff of Medibank Private which is an Australian government-owned private health insurer and is Australia's largest health insurance provider. He will also pay a visit to Sigma Pharmaceuticals Limited.

The final leg of the visit is Sydney where Dr Chow will visit the New South Wales Food Authority to see the regulatory role of the food authority there.

Dr Chow will return to Hong Kong on April 21.



Ends/Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:00

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