ENG-2013 — Page 196

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Health

food testing methods and conducting more analytical work resulting from the broadened scope of food surveillance operations.

The laboratory also provides services for analysing the quality and safety of Western and Chinese medicine. In 2013, it carried out over 56,600 tests on Western pharmaceutical products and over 86,400 on Chinese medicine to ensure they met recognised quality and safety standards, including tests on proprietary Chinese medicines to ensure they were not adulterated with Western drugs, controlled substances, or harmful ingredients. The laboratory provided support for investigations on undeclared Western drug ingredients and incidents of intoxication suspected to have been caused by misused or contaminated herbs in Chinese medicine. The laboratory assists the DH in the development of Hong Kong Chinese Material Medica Standards. It also conducts year-round surveillance of tar and nicotine yields in cigarettes, and over 13,600 checks on data declared by tobacco traders, and regularly releases the results to the public.

Public Health Laboratory Services

The DH's Public Health Laboratory Services Branch conducts laboratory tests for clinical and surveillance specimens and provides clinical diagnostic and public health laboratory services to the public and private health sectors for patient care and for other public health purposes. The branch conducted more than five million such tests in 2013.

The branch's Public Health Laboratory Centre has been designated by the WHO as the National Influenza Centre, the National Poliovirus Laboratory, the National Measles Laboratory, a Supranational TB Reference Laboratory, a Regional Reference Laboratory for measles, as well as one of the Influenza A(H5) Reference Laboratories and one of the SARS Reference Laboratories worldwide.

Hospital Laboratory Services

Hospital laboratories in the HA's regional hospitals provide a wide range of laboratory services in anatomical pathology, chemical pathology, haematology, blood bank, microbiology, immunology and tissue typing to ensure that all public hospitals, including those without on- site laboratories, have access to comprehensive laboratory services. These laboratories are supported by advanced information technology systems and automated devices to achieve operational efficiency. They are also accredited by a number of local and international accreditation bodies and carried out more than 254 million tests in 2013.

Auxiliary Medical Service

The Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) is a government department under the Security Bureau, staffed by 96 civil servants. It provides government-financed services through 4,602 volunteers and 1,000 cadets. Volunteers come from all walks of life and include doctors, nurses, pharmacists and paramedical personnel. All AMS members are qualified Disaster Medical Assistants. The main role of the AMS is to reinforce regular medical, health and ambulance services during emergencies and to provide backup during normal times. The AMS Cadet Corps provides youths aged between 12 and 17 with specific training in discipline and skills, and an orientation towards civic duty.

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