In view of the latest COVID-19 situation, the Fire Services Department (FSD) today (January 20) announced that all public education programmes will be cancelled and the Fire and Ambulance Services Education Centre cum Muse… read more
The Department of Health today (January 20) hosted the 19th Standing Committee Meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Forum for the Harmonization of Herbal Medicines (FHH) to discuss the harmonisation of standards of herbal medicines.
The meeting was conducted via video-conference with a view to reviewing the latest regulatory measures on herbal medicines among FHH members and strengthening communications and co-operation among regulatory authorities.
Addressing the opening session, the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, said, “The practice of using herbal medicines dates back hundreds of years. Today herbal medicines are gaining more and more popularity among the public. An extensive number of herbal medicines have been commodified and sold across the world. In some countries, herbal medicines have been used in treating COVID-19 patients alongside Western medicines and with very encouraging results. There is a vital need for our joint effort in sharing our valuable experiences and innovative technology to work toward the common goal of harmonisation of the standards and regulatory requirements of herbal medicines.”
Updating the participants on Hong Kong’s progress in enhancing the safety and quality of herbal medicines, Dr Lam remarked that Hong Kong has dedicated much effort to setting standards for Chinese medicines. The Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards (HKCMMS) Project was launched in 2002 to develop standards for commonly used Chinese Materia Medica (CMM), and 10 volumes of HKCMMS have been published covering a total of 330 CMM. The project has been well-recognised in the field of Chinese medicines testing and certification.
Dr Lam said that the commencement of construction of a permanent Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute this year marks an important milestone in the development of Chinese medicines in Hong Kong. Upon its completion in 2025, it would facilitate the pooling of resources and enhance the efficiency of testing for further fostering the development of Chinese medicines.
FHH is a technical forum set up in 2002 to promote public health by recognising and developing standards and technical guidelines with an aim of improving the quality, safety and efficacy of herbal medicines. Drug regulatory authorities from members conduct meeting annually to exchange experiences and technology for working towards the common goal of harmonisation of the standards and regulatory requirements of herbal medicines.
Participants this year included FHH members from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, and representatives from Macao, the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific and the United States Pharmacopeia. This is the second time that Hong Kong hosted a meeting as Co-ordinating Member and Secretariat of FHH since 2009. read more
The EMSD Symposium 2022 organised by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) concluded successfully today (January 20). With the theme “C0-innovinity” to promote carbon neutrality and collaboration in innovation, the symposium was held via video conferencing and attracted over 1 400 participants from various sectors, including local, Mainland and overseas government departments as well as public organisations, the innovation and technology (I&T) sector, the electrical and mechanical trade and academics.
The Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, said in his opening address that the Government has been actively promoting the application of I&T to foster sustainable development. The online symposium organised by the EMSD served as a platform for professionals to share experience and technology, inspire creativity and strengthen collaboration, with a view to shaping a smarter and greener Hong Kong.
In his welcoming speech, the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Eric Pang, said that the EMSD will continue its enduring efforts as the Government’s innovation facilitator in encouraging research and development (R&D) and promoting the adoption of I&T and artificial intelligence to work out infinite solutions with the trades to jointly create a brighter future as well as striving to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050.
As one of the events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the symposium also launched a virtual exhibition for government departments, trades, universities and R&D institutions to share their innovative solutions and R&D outcomes in the fields of smart city, AI and low-carbon energy.
The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (January 20) that the second round of the Basic Law Test (BLT) will be held on February 26 and is open for application starting next Monday (January 24).
A spokesman for the EDB said that persons interested in taking the test may apply through the online application system on the EDB webpage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/basiclawtest) from 9am on January 24 to 5pm on February 7 (Hong Kong time). As places for the test are limited, applicants will be arranged to sit for the test on a first-come, first-served basis.
The EDB is conducting two rounds of the BLT for teachers on a pilot basis. The first round of the BLT was held in early January while the second round will be the last round of the BLT organised this school year. The relevant test results are only applicable to the newly appointed teachers in the 2022/23 school year. For the content and format of the BLT, the EDB will draw reference to the arrangements of the BLT conducted by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB). Candidates have to answer 15 multiple-choice questions within 20 minutes. Those who get at least eight out of 15 questions correct (i.e. attaining a score at or above 53 out of the full mark of 100) will be deemed to have a “pass” result. Those who have already obtained a pass result in the first round of the BLT will not be allowed to sit for the second round of test again. Teachers who have sat for a BLT conducted by the CSB and attained the abovementioned passing score will be deemed to have met the relevant requirement.
The spokesman said, “The Basic Law is closely related to our lives and is also a key element of the school curriculum which should be strengthened. Teachers should have a correct understanding of the Basic Law in order to enlighten students and help them correctly understand the constitutional status of Hong Kong and develop positive attitudes towards the Basic Law and ‘one country, two systems’.
“In this regard, while the EDB and teacher training institutions have been strengthening training on the Basic Law, starting from the 2022/23 school year, newly appointed regular teachers including newly joined teachers, teachers changing schools, and teachers changing from teaching posts remunerated with a cash grant to those remunerated with a Salaries Grant, and monthly paid temporary teachers in all public sector schools are required to pass the BLT in order to be considered for appointment. The requirement applies to all ranks of the teacher grade including principals.”
The spokesman added that at the current stage, the BLT requirement is temporarily not applicable to daily rated supply teachers, teachers employed under the Native-speaking English Teacher Scheme and teachers who are remunerated with cash grants. The EDB will consider progressively extending the relevant requirement to other schools (such as schools joining the Direct Subsidy Scheme and kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme) and other teachers.
The EDB will closely monitor the epidemic situation and move in step with the development of the overall anti-epidemic measures in Hong Kong for the arrangement of the test. For more details about the BLT organised by the EDB and the latest updates, please refer to the EDB webpage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/basiclawtest). read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
In view of the latest epidemic developments, the Hospital Authority (HA) today (January 20) announced the continued suspension of the special visiting arrangement at public hospitals until further announcement. Visits under compassionate considerations will be arranged according to patients’ conditions and the operation of the wards/units.
“For pre-arranged compassionate visits under specific circumstances, the visitors must have completed two-dose COVIDâ€�19 vaccination for 14 days, and must provide either a negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test result obtained within 48 hours or provide a negative COVID-19 rapid antigen test result obtained within 24 hours,” the HA spokesman said.
“For compassionate visits under emergency situations, such as visiting the critically ill or end-of-life visits, visitors must provide a negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test result obtained within 48 hours or a negative COVID-19 rapid antigen test result obtained within 24 hours before the visit. If the visitor cannot arrange the test in advance, a COVID-19 rapid antigen test must be performed and the test result must be provided right after the visit.”
The HA hopes the patients’ family members can understand the limitations of the visiting arrangements under the current epidemic situation. All hospitals will continue to facilitate video visiting as far as practicable.
The spokesman reiterated that all visitors entering public hospitals are required to strictly comply with the infection control measures, such as wearing surgical masks, temperature checking and filling in health declaration forms. In addition, visitors need to scan the “LeaveHomeSafe” venue QR code when entering public hospitals, except for exempted persons (persons who are aged below 12 or aged 65 or above, those with disabilities that render use of the app difficult and individual persons granted exemptions due to actual circumstances can complete a record form as registration). read more