The next health minister should be more prevention-oriented in relation to HIV/Aids or it would get out of hand, a leading Aids activist has warned.
'What we need is someone with a prevention vision. We do not have a sophisticated policy response to prevention, which is the critical issue because the real danger in a low-prevalence situation is complacency,' Aids Concern chief executive Graham Smith said.
A successor for outgoing Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong is expected to be named next month. Dr Yeoh resigned after being blamed in a Legco inquiry report for the mishandling of last year's Sars outbreak.
Mr Smith said the government's Aids policy had always been 'medically orientated' and this was putting Hong Kong at risk of an epidemic.
Data showed 2,311 people with HIV as of March.
Testing rates of the general population were low and surveillance of vulnerable groups was inadequate.