Press Releases
SFH meets District Council chairmen and vice-chairmen on enhancing anti-mosquito measures (with photo)
The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, today (April 23) met with
the Chairmen and Vice-chairmen of the 18 District Councils (DCs). Appealing
for support from the DCs, Dr Ko called on them to vigorously perform their
watchdog role and, acting in concert with the relevant government
departments, help fortify anti-mosquito work at the district level to
prevent dengue fever (DF).
Dr Ko said at the meeting that although only three local DF cases were
recorded at the end of 2014, DF remained highly prevalent in neighbouring
areas. He hoped the DCs could in the rainy season boost their efforts to
promote active public participation in mosquito prevention and control work
at the district level.
The Controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of
Health, Dr Leung Ting-hung, and the Pest Control Officer-in-charge of the
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Mr Yuen Ming-chi, also joined the
meeting to brief participants on the latest development of DF and the
Government's mosquito prevention and control work.
"The incubation period of DF ranges from three to 14 days, commonly four to
seven days. Although symptoms of first DF infection are usually mild, if the
person is infected with other serotypes of dengue viruses in subsequent
years, it is more likely to result in a serious complication, namely dengue
haemorrhagic fever. Failing proper treatment, the fatality rate could exceed
20 per cent.
"At present, no vaccine for DF is available. Therefore, the best preventive
measures are to avoid mosquito bites and adopt measures to prevent mosquito
breeding. Urgent actions at the district level are called for to put a
territory-wide anti-mosquito campaign into full swing.
"DF remains highly prevalent in neighbouring areas that are frequently
visited by Hong Kong residents, including Guangdong Province, Taiwan and
Southeast Asia. From early this year to mid-April, 24 DF cases were recorded
in Guangdong Province, 163 in Taiwan and more than 75 000 in Southeast Asian
countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In Hong Kong, 23 cases
have been confirmed so far this year, and all are imported cases. With
members of the public bitten by infected mosquitoes when travelling abroad
or in Hong Kong, and under the scenario where we could not effectively
contain the local mosquito problem, the likelihood of a DF outbreak in Hong
Kong would go up significantly. If the experience with DF outbreaks in other
places in the region is anything to go by, the number of DF cases could
shoot up exponentially within a short period. For the sake of our safety and
health, we have to work together to prevent DF from becoming endemic in Hong
Kong. Once it has taken root, the trend will be irreversible," Dr Ko said.
Accepting the importance that should be attached to eliminate mosquito
breeding, the DC Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen called for concerted actions on
the part of relevant government departments in anti-mosquito work, as well
as enhanced efforts to educate the public and promote public awareness.
"In gearing up for the upcoming rainy season, the Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department (FEHD) will deploy additional manpower to anti-mosquito
work as well as join hands with other relevant government departments to lay
on, from May 4 to early June, two rounds of intensive mosquito preventive
and control exercises across the territory covering areas under their
purview. Through the two exercises, actions will be taken to kill adult
mosquitoes, clear stagnant water and conduct grass cutting to eliminate
potential mosquito breeding grounds. With each of the two rounds of
intensive mosquito prevention and control exercise lasting for two weeks, we
hope that mosquitoes of a whole generation, including those infected with
DF, will be eliminated. We will also strengthen public education and
publicity programmes to enhance public understanding of the disease and
preventive measures as well as the importance of mosquito control work.
"In addition to its own staff, FEHD's contractors provide a total of more
than 200 teams of workers to do mosquito control and preventive work all
over Hong Kong. We have provided additional funding to the Department for
sustaining its anti-mosquito work throughout the winter of 2014. We will
allocate additional resources to the Department in 2015 for its work in this
aspect.
"Construction sites are black spots of mosquito breeding. I am pleased that
the Hong Kong Construction Association will lend its full support to our
anti-mosquito operations. Apart from taking part in the two rounds of
territory-wide intensive anti-mosquito exercises, members of the association
will incorporate, in the training programme for safety officers and site
workers, messages for enhancing awareness," Dr Ko said.
Also attending the meeting, the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health
(Food), Mrs Cherry Tse, said, "The Anti-Mosquito Steering Committee, which
comprises various bureaux and departments, held a meeting yesterday (April
22) to discuss ways to strengthen co-operation among different departments
and adopt proactive measures to intensify anti-mosquito efforts across the
territory.
"The added measures that would be pursued include the following: (a) the
Education Bureau will appeal to school heads associations to participate in
FEHD's seminars with a view to heightening their staff's alertness to
prevent dengue fever; (b) as an established measure to contain mosquito
breeding in construction sites, at present, the qualification of the
contractors on the List of Approved Contractors for Public Works to bid
public works will be affected if they repeatedly breach anti-mosquito
regulations. The Development Bureau and the Housing Department will
strengthen their communication with the contractors and review the relevant
regulatory regime; and (c) FEHD will step up the surveillance of mosquito
control and prevention work by its contractors," she said.
Ends/Thursday, April 23, 2015
Issued at HKT 20:03
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