ENG-2006 — Page 215

Health | 175

To enhance laboratory services, the centre has strengthened diagnostic capacity, epidemiological surveillance, data analysis and detection sensitivity, as well as laboratory safety and quality assurance. By strengthening control of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection, protection against and prevention of known diseases were also reinforced. In order to pool professional expertise, a Board of Scientific Advisers with seven Scientific Committees was set up. Training and research programmes were launched regularly.

In addition to formulation of risk communication strategies and action plans for the centre, communication with the community was strengthened through support from District Councils, educational campaigns and publicity programmes. Local, regional and international collaborative work, including meetings, international symposium, video links and attachment/exchange programmes, were carried out to reinforce networks with other health authorities and agencies in the Mainland, Macao and other places, as well as the World Health Organisation, to share professional knowledge and experience in combating diseases.

Contingency Planning for Infectious Disease Outbreaks

To enhance government and community preparedness to cope with major outbreaks of infectious diseases, the Centre for Health Protection has developed and updated preparedness plans on various infectious diseases. To build up surge capacity, a mechanism for mobilising volunteers in the private and voluntary sectors during major public health emergencies has been developed.

Furthermore, the centre has conducted and participated in drills and exercises to enhance emergency preparedness and response of relevant departments and agencies for infectious disease outbreaks. In September 2006, Exercise CYPRESS was conducted in collaboration with the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, the Hospital Authority and the Fire Services Department to review frontline operations in the event of human cases of avian influenza. More than 500 participants took part in the exercise, and over 30 experts from the Mainland, Macao and Hong Kong were invited to be observers. In June 2006, the centre participated in the first regional exercise on influenza pandemic organised by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to test the emergency responses and communication efficiency among APEC's member economies.

There is a need to maintain effective communication and cooperation with the Mainland and other neighbouring areas in the combat and control of infectious diseases. In November 2006, the Centre for Health Protection organised Exercise Great Wall jointly with the health authorities in the Mainland and Macao to test the emergency response and notification mechanism among the three places in handling cross-boundary public health emergencies. The Implementation Framework Article under the Cooperation Agreement on Response Mechanism for Public Health Emergencies was signed with the Ministry of Health on the Mainland and the Health Bureau of Macao in April 2006 to further enhance exchange of epidemic intelligence and collaboration among the three places in handling major public health emergencies. In addition, a cooperation agreement on emergency response mechanism was signed with the Department of Health of Guangdong and Health