ENG-2007 — Page 220

172 Health

The centre organised as well as participated in a number of drills during the year to test Hong Kong's preparedness for an outbreak of infectious disease. In September 2007, a drill codenamed 'Exercise Chestnut' was conducted in collaboration with the Food and Health Bureau, the Hospital Authority and nine government departments to review frontline operations for dealing with an outbreak of an avian flu that can be passed from human to human. More than 250 people took part in the exercise. Six experts from the Mainland and Macao participated as observers.

The authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland are acutely aware that effective communication and cooperation among them and neighbouring countries. are vital in combating the spread of infectious diseases. In November 2006, the CHP joined hands with the health authorities on the Mainland and Macao to organise 'Exercise Great Wall,' which was a success and was repeated in 2007.

Other Communicable Diseases

There are a total of 32 statutory notifiable infectious diseases in Hong Kong During the year, some 25 000 cases of notifiable infectious diseases were reported, of which some 5 500 were tuberculosis cases.

Children in Hong Kong are protected against communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella under a scheme called 'Childhood Immunisation Programme'. Incidences of many communicable diseases in Hong Kong are relatively few.

The current estimated number of people infected with HIV in Hong Kong is about 3 600. The number of newly reported cases is about 400 each year.

Non-communicable Diseases

Health problems in Hong Kong are mostly associated with lifestyle and among them, chronic diseases top the list. The biggest killers are cancer, heart and cerebrovascular diseases, together accounting for about 55 per cent of all registered deaths in 2007. Elderly people are the biggest victims and will continue to be at the top of the mortality list as the population ages. The Centre for Health Protection will continue reinforcing protection against non-communicable diseases through a scheme called the 'Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System'.

A Cancer Coordinating Committee has been set up to formulate plans and to make recommendations for effectively preventing and controlling cancer in Hong Kong which claimed more than 12 000 lives in 2007.

To reduce the mortality rate of cervical cancer victims, the Department of Health, in collaboration with other health care providers, launched a Cervical Screening Programme in 2004 to provide screening for women aged between 25 and 64. It has also devised a Cervical Screening Information System (CSIS) to collect and analyse data on cervical smears. In 2007, 96 633 women, registered under the programme, underwent cervical screening.