Press Releases

SFH on the visit to Sham Shui Po and lead in drinking water incident

Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, after visiting Sham Shui Po today (September 10):

Reporter: (about the visit to Sham Shui Po)

Secretary for Food and Health: My visit to this area is in the context of clean Hong Kong campaign. There are concerns about the so-called environmental hygiene blackspot in various districts, in particular at some back alleys. Although the back alleys I have just visited are relatively tidy, I observe that there are certain personal belongings being placed there. This might obstruct the cleansing work of our staff. There are also blocked drains which might cause the problem of mosquito breeding. Although the ovitrap index is low in recent months, there is still evidence of mosquito activity here. In areas surrounding Hong Kong, the number of dengue fever cases has already been on the rise. We must take it as a very serious matter. The Government, District Councils and our citizens need to take actions against mosquitoes.

Reporter: (about blood testing for the affected residents)

Secretary for Food and Health: Up to this moment, more than 3 700 residents of the affected public housing estates already have their blood taken for testing. There are around 900 residents waiting for blood tests. Most of them will have their blood test in the following weekend. Starting the next weekend, quotas for blood tests will be reserved for two groups of people. The first group is residents of affected public housing estates. The second group is students of kindergartens to which results of water sampling tests exceed the World Health Organization's reference. As for private laboratories, up to this moment, two of them have indicated willingness to provide services. I believe it will take them a few weeks' time for preparation. By that time, if there is a need, they will join the blood testing initiative.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Thursday, September 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 20:49

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