Public Health

Smoking on increase in Shanghai's 'disaster zones'

4 Mar 2013

Officials referred to the three areas as smoking "disaster zones" and admitted the outlook for implementing the restrictions - imposed three years ago - was "not optimistic".

Doctors confident Hong Kong is prepared if Sars strikes again

25 Feb 2013

Medical experts pointed to the greater number of respiratory specialists and isolation wards, and the better understanding of how the disease spreads and thrives.

Public go potty over ministry's plan to use flies to measure toilet health

24 Feb 2013

According to the draft released on Thursday for public feedback, no more than one fly per square metre will be allowed in toilets inside buildings, while free-standing facilities will be allowed...

Hong Kong must avoid the health threat of complacency

22 Feb 2013

Wwhile Sars may now seem a distant memory, we forget the lessons of it at our peril. We should heed the reminder sounded by the emergence of a new Sars-like virus and confirmation that the deadly...

The lessons of Sars, 10 years on

20 Feb 2013

Ten years ago, on March 12, I sent an urgent e-mail to the World Health Organisation. I was in charge of Hong Kong's Department of Health at that time. We were screening more than 50 hospital...

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Opinion

Wang Xiangwei

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Budget must increase cigarette tax

Price measures have been shown around the world to be the single, most effective measure in reducing tobacco use, especially among the young. The protection of young people from addiction to...

Liaoning clinic suspected of infecting 95 patients

Chinese state media say 95 people have been hospitalised after a private clinic gave them injections suspected to be contaminated with hepatitis C.

Acrid smog returns to envelop Beijing for fourth time in a month

Residents awoke to find more acrid air enveloping their city, and municipal weather authorities responded by issuing a "yellow" smog warning as visibility dropped below 3,000 metres.

HEALTH

Discrimination still plagues leprosy victims in mainland China

Today is World Leprosy Day, which was established in the 1950s to highlight the plight of millions of people affected by a devastating and disfiguring illness.

HEALTH

World experts back plans for city veterinarian school

The facility would address the shortage of veterinarians in the city and help combat the mounting threat that animal-related diseases pose to people in the region.

PROFILE

No 2 at Health Bureau is just what the doctor ordered

Fresh from overseeing the School of Nursing at the University of Hong Kong, it seemed Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee needed little time in her new role as No 2 at the Food and Health Bureau to...