ENG-2018 — Page 201

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Health

The Hospital Authority manages 15 full-time and 54 part-time smoking counselling and cessation centres. It operates a hotline, 2300 7272, providing booking and enquiry services for people who wish to quit smoking.

Sale and Supply of Intoxicating Liquor to Minors

The Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2017 was passed in February 2018 and came into operation on 30 November to prohibit the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor to minors in the course of business. In conjunction, the department's Tobacco Control Office was renamed Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office in November. Apart from tobacco control, the office also enforces the prohibition of the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor to minors.

Disease Prevention and Control

The department spent $4.2 billion on disease prevention and control at its maternal and child health centres, elderly health centres and similar facilities in 2017-18.

Centre for Health Protection

The Centre for Health Protection collaborates with local and international counterparts to prevent and control diseases in Hong Kong. It works on three principles: real-time surveillance, rapid intervention and responsive risk communication. The centre keeps track of communicable diseases and issues surveillance reports and laboratory data reports regularly.

A board of scientific advisers and six scientific committees meet periodically to help the centre formulate policies to improve the health protection system.

The centre maintains close liaison with district councils and Healthy Cities projects at the district level and solicits their support to disseminate health information and guidelines, alert the public to health threats, facilitate rapid implementation of preventive measures, and carry out other health promotion activities. It also shares professional knowledge and experience in combating diseases with health authorities in the Mainland, Macao and WHO.

Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases

The Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance specifies 50 statutory notifiable infectious diseases in Hong Kong. During the year, 16,524 cases were reported, of which 7,592 and 4,326 were diagnosed as chickenpox and tuberculosis respectively.

The centre continually reviews and updates its strategies for coping with major outbreaks of infectious diseases, including an influenza pandemic, the Ebola virus disease, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Zika virus infection, ensuring both the government and the community are prepared to deal with them.

Up to December 2018, Hong Kong had confirmed 21 human cases of avian influenza A (H7N9) since the city reported its first human case in December 2013. All were sporadic imported cases and the last imported case was reported in March 2017.

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