Press Releases
Concerted efforts to curb the spread of AIDS (with photo)
The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, said today (September 20)
that the Government will continue its close co-operation with the medical
sector and the community at large to prevent and control the spread of AIDS.
Officiating at the ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the Department
of Health's Red Ribbon Centre (RRC) today, Dr Ko said, "The HIV prevalence
remains low in Hong Kong when compared with elsewhere in Asia. To curb the
epidemic in an effective manner, various measures have been launched in the
territory, including the Preventing Mother-to-child Transmission programme,
the Methadone Treatment Programme and the community-based responses to the
HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM), all of which have won
international acclaim.
"In view of a rising trend in HIV prevalence among the MSM community,
preventive and control measures for MSM have been expanded in Hong Kong. In
fact, the Council for the AIDS Trust Fund had also swiftly expanded the
scale of the measures through special funding programmes."
Apart from its endeavours in AIDS prevention, the Government is also
committed to ensuring a timely treatment service for HIV-infected persons.
The Government is actively promoting provider-initiated HIV antibody testing
services and assisting AIDS service organisations to provide voluntary
testing and counselling services free of charge. Co-operation among Hong
Kong, the Mainland and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
is also fostered through various preventive programmes with a view to
alleviating the impact of the mobile population on the local epidemic.
Also officiating at the ceremony, the Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan,
said, "As at late June this year, the cumulative total of HIV infections
reached 5,523. Four hundred and thirty-eight new cases of HIV infection were
reported in 2011, representing a 12.6 per cent rise when compared with 2010.
The record high number of cases has indicated that HIV/AIDS is still a major
threat to public health.
"The Hong Kong Advisory Council on AIDS (ACA) has just launched in 2012 its
blueprint for AIDS strategies for the next five years. The department will
commit support for the new recommendations as usual and mobilise various
sectors of the community to implement major preventive programmes, maintain
a quality treatment and health-care service and monitor the progress of
various strategic indicators," she stressed.
Other officiating guests included the wife of the Chief Executive and Patron
of the RRC, Mrs Regina Leung; the Controller of the Centre for Health
Protection, Dr Thomas Tsang; the Chairman of the Management Advisory
Committee of the RRC, Dr Richard Tan; the Chairperson of the ACA, Dr Susan
Fan; and the Chairman of the Council for the AIDS Trust Fund, Dr Matthew Ng.
The RRC is an HIV/AIDS education, resource and research centre. It was
formally established by the Department of Health in 1997 under the
sponsorship of the AIDS Trust Fund, and has been designated as UNAIDS
Collaborating Centre (Technical Support) since 1998. The mission of the RRC
is to facilitate and enhance the community's response to HIV/AIDS.
Ends/Thursday, September 20, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:00
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