Sars expert committee task not out to find blame says Yeoh

Updated at 6.19pm: Secretary of for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said on Friday that the Sars expert committee's primary task is not to expose individual blame for incidents related to the outbreak.

In a stand-up media session to report on the progress of the expert committee he is heading, Mr Yeoh said, 'the primary task of the expert committee is to identify lessons to be learned and make recommendations on improvement measures, such as the type of isolation facilities, to our health care system.'

He said the objectivity of the final report could be ensured by the integrity of the foreign experts members of the committee.

The committee would be divided into two groups. One would look at hospital management and administration, and the other would examine public health issues, added Mr Yeoh.

The committee will hold a series of meetings in Hong Kong. The first one to be held from June 26-28 will examine hospital management and administration .

Mr Yeoh said the committee appointed by the Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa would be given enough power to talk to relevant people at management level.