Press Releases
SFH to visit Europe and attend World Health Assembly
The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, will leave tomorrow morning
(May 13) for a visit to Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom and to attend the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
On his first stop in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on May 13, Dr Chow
will study the country's electronic health record development and meet
Estonia's Minister of Social Affairs, Mr Hanno Pevkur, and the management
board of the Estonian e-Health Foundation. He will visit the North Estonia
Medical Centre, the biggest hospital offering specialised medical treatment
in Northern Estonia, and the Estonian ICT Demo Centre, a not-for-profit
organisation promoting e-solutions to healthcare providers domestically and
internationally.
Dr Chow will be in Germany on May 15 and start his programme there by
touring the first German clinic for traditional Chinese medicine in Munich.
He will head to Geneva on May 16 and call on the Minister of Health, Dr Chen
Zhu. After attending the 63rd World Health Assembly on May 17, Dr Chow will
have a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport of
the Netherlands, Dr Abraham Klink.
From Geneva, Dr Chow will travel to the Netherlands on the evening of May 17
to see the healthcare system there. He will meet the Dutch Health Care
Insurance Board, an independent body that coordinates the implementation and
funding of the country's Health Insurance Act. He will also visit the Dutch
Healthcare Authority, the healthcare market supervisor in the Netherlands.
After his stay in the Netherlands, Dr Chow will go to Hannover on May 19 to
visit a clinical trial centre and the Cluster of Excellence in Regenerative
Biology and Reconstructive Therapies of the Hannover Medical School. Dr Chow
will also meet his ministerial counterparts to exchange views on matters of
mutual interest.
On May 21, Dr Chow will head to London, the last leg of this European visit
where he will visit Sainsbury's, the third largest chain of supermarkets in
the United Kingdom, to gain an understanding of its food safety system. Dr
Chow will conclude his trip by meeting experts of the Department of
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and visiting an executive agency of the
department, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, to find out more about their
policies and measures to monitor veterinary health.
Dr Chow will return to Hong Kong on May 22.
Ends/Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:43
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