Sophia Chan Siu Chee (; born 16th April 1958) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

professor and politician. She served as

Secretary for Food and Health The Secretary for Health () is a ministerial position in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Health Bureau (Hong Kong), Health Bureau. The current office holder is Lo Chung-mau. The position was created on 1 July 2022, following the resh ...

from 2017 to 2022. She was educated at the St. Paul's Secondary School. She subsequently graduated from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

with a Master of Education, the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with a Master of Public Health and the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

with a Doctor of Philosophy Degree. She was a Professor in Nursing and Director of Research in HKU's School of Nursing and an Assistant Dean of the

Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine (branded as HKUMed) is the medical school of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), a public research university. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, ...

of HKU. She was involved in tobacco control and smoking cessation promotion and was a consultant to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

on training health-care professionals in tobacco dependency treatment interventions through advocacy and education. In 2012, she was appointed as the Under Secretary for Food and Health. In 2017, she was appointed

of the administration of

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years. After g ...

. Subsequently, in 2018 she declined to speak in support of banning bear-bile products, the production of which is considered inhumane and cruel, in Hong Kong. In February 2021, Chan gave approval for emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine, and granted it an exemption from a rule that stated vaccines must have third phase clinical trial data published in a journal. In April 2021, Chan briefed varies industries (catering, agriculture and fisheries, Chinese medicine, and health services) on why the NPCSC implemented rules to only allow "patriots" to serve in the government, and asked for their full support. In addition, she said that she fully supports the changes. In December 2021, Chan claimed that having only "patriots" serve in the government would help the global fight against COVID-19. On 31 December 2021, Chan warned the public not to gather in large groups; hours later, she attended the Hong Kong Dental Association's annual ball, as the guest of honor. In March 2022, Chan said that a COVID-19 lockdown in Hong Kong had not been ruled out, contradicting an earlier statement by Carrie Lam, who said that a lockdown would not happen. The contradiction caused rumors and panic-buying at grocery stores and pharmacies. Chan also said that traditional Chinese medicine could prevent Covid-19. In November 2022, Chan said that the government was not underprepared for the city's fifth wave, and when asked if the administration should apologize to relatives of those who died, Chan said it was time for people to move on.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Sophia 1958 births Living people Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong women civil servants Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Academic staff of the University of Hong Kong Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star