The Centre for Health Protection is an agency under the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

responsible for disease prevention and control. CHP plays the same role and function as the

Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

in the United States, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

(EU).

History

Hong Kong was severely affected by the 2003 outbreak of the

severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sev ...

(SARS), with 299 people killed by the disease. The health system's performance in the face of the epidemic was scrutinised, and there were calls for an independent investigation. On 14 May 2003, Michael Mak, representative of the Health Services constituency, initiated a non-binding motion within the Legislative Council's health services panel calling for the setting-up of a select committee to investigate government officials and Hospital Authority executives. Mak commented that the SARS outbreak had uncovered "administrative and policy weaknesses", and stated, "I hope that when a similar outbreak happens in the future, we will not find ourselves in such a mess again." The motion passed unanimously, as all but one of the pro-government legislators had walked out, calling it a "witch-hunting exercise". On 15 May 2003, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa launched a government-led investigation, ordering the

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

to appoint a review committee comprising local and overseas experts. The membership of the SARS Expert Committee was announced on 28 May 2003. Committee co-chairs

Sir Cyril Chantler Sir Cyril Chantler (born 12 May 1939) is a British paediatric nephrologist. Chantler was notable for devising a method with Norman Veale of measuring glomerular function in children and later researched diet and growth failure in children wit ...

and Sian Griffiths submitted the panel's final report to the government on 2 October 2003. One of the recommendations in the report was the setting up of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), to be charged with communicable disease control, surveillance, planning for epidemics, and co-ordination during outbreaks. This suggestion was welcomed by Hong Kong medical experts. Deputy health director Leung Pak-yin became the first controller of the CHP on 1 April 2004. The initial operations of the centre were supported by a HK$500 million donation from the

Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...

. The centre officially commenced operation on 1 June 2004.

Structure

The centre has seven divisions: * Communicable Disease Branch * Emergency Response and Programme Management Branch * Health Promotion Branch * Infection Control Branch * Non-communicable Disease Branch * Public Health Laboratory Services Branch * Public Health Services Branch

Controller

The CHP is headed by the Controller for the Centre for Health Protection and reports to the Director of the Department of Health.

Functions

CHP deals with various health-related issues including: *

Emergency response Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal wi ...

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evide ...

Infection control Infection prevention and control is the discipline concerned with preventing healthcare-associated infections; a practical rather than academic sub-discipline of epidemiology. In Northern Europe, infection prevention and control is expanded fro ...

Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

References

External links