Legislative Council
LC Paper No. CB(2) 111/98-99
Ref : CB2/PL/HS
LegCo Panel on Health Services
Minutes of Meeting
held on Tuesday, 14 July 1998 at 9:00 am
in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building
Members Present:
Hon Michael HO Mun-ka (Chairman)
Dr Hon LEONG Che-hung, JP (Deputy Chairman)
Hon HO Sai-chu, JP
Hon Cyd HO Sau-lan
Hon CHAN Yuen-han
Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG LAU Yau-fun, JP
Dr Hon YEUNG Sum
Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung
Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong, JP
Hon LAW Chi-kwong, JP
Member Attending :
Hon Ronald ARCULLI, JP
Clerk in Attendance :
- Ms Doris CHAN
- Chief Assistant Secretary (2) 4
Staff in Attendance :
- Mrs Justina LAM
- Assistant Secretary General 2
- Ms Joanne MAK
- Senior Assistant Secretary (2) 4
I. Election of Presiding Member
In accordance with the election procedure circulated to members on 11 July 1998 vide LC Paper No. CB(2) 31/98-99, the Clerk called for nominations for the presiding Member.
2. Dr LEONG Che-hung was nominated by Dr YEUNG Sum and the nomination was seconded by Mr Michael HO Mun-ka and Dr TANG Siu-tong. Dr LEONG Che-hung accepted the nomination. There being no other nomination, the Clerk declared that Dr LEONG Che-hung was elected as the presiding Member.
II. Election of Chairman
3. Dr LEONG Che-hung took the chair and called for nominations for the chairmanship of the Panel.
4. Dr YEUNG Sum nominated Mr Michael HO Mun-ka as Chairman of the Panel. Mr LAW Chi-kwong seconded the nomination. Mr Michael HO Mun-ka accepted the nomination. There being no other nomination, the presiding Member declared that Mr Michael HO Mun-ka was elected as Chairman of the Panel.
III. Election of Deputy Chairman
5. Mr Michael HO Mun-ka called for nominations for the deputy chairmanship of the Panel.
6. Mr LAW Chi-kwong nominated Dr LEONG Che-hung as Deputy Chairman of the Panel. Dr TANG Siu-tong seconded the nomination. Dr LEONG Che-hung accepted the nomination. There being no other nomination, the Chairman declared that Dr LEONG Che-hung was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Panel.
IV. Schedule of meetings for the 1998-99 session
7. Members agreed to hold regular meetings on the second Monday of each month at 8:30 am and to hold a special meeting for the Administration to brief members on Enterovirus 71 on 17 July 1998 at 8:30 am. There would be no meeting in August.
V. Items for discussion at the next meeting
(List of issues to be considered by the Panel in Appendix attached.)
8. The Chairman suggested that the information paper on Enterovirus 71 to be provided by the Administration for the special meeting should cover the following points -
- co-ordination between the Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority, and the role of the Health and Welfare Bureau;
- use of the quick test and the culture of the virus;
- ways of infection of the disease and preventive measures; and
- follow-up actions to the fact-finding trip to Taiwan.
9. The Chairman suggested that the Administration should bring along experts such as microbiologists to attend the special meeting.
10. Dr LEONG Che-hung considered that the Administration should provide details as to how it had collected relevant information from private medical practitioners regarding the enterovirus infection. Dr LEONG also would like to discuss with the Administration its long-term strategy to combat communicable diseases. In addition, Mrs Sophie LEUNG would like to know whether the Administration had sent medical officers to learn the experience of Taiwan and neighbouring countries in the first instance when outbreaks of the disease were reported. Members requested that information papers covering the above should be provided by the Administration before the meeting.
11. Members noted the list of issues to be considered by the Panel (in Appendix) which had been tabled at the meeting. Mr LAW Chi-kwong suggested and members agreed that a new item "Visiting health teams for the elderly" be added to the list for future discussion.
12. Members agreed to discuss the following issues at the next regular meeting to be held on 14 September 1998 at 8:30 am -
- Development of traditional Chinese medicine; and
- Food safety and environmental hygiene.
13. The Chairman suggested that the Administration should be requested to provide an up-to-date schedule of work in respect of the review of the healthcare financing system by the next regular meeting. Dr LEONG Che-hung added that the general research reports on the healthcare financing system had been prepared by the LegCo Research and Library Services Division.
VI. Any Other Business
14. Mr YEUNG Yiu-chung said that due to an oversight, he had signed up to attend the first meeting of this Panel but had not signed up to be a member. The Clerk confirmed that Mr YEUNG had informed the Secretariat that he would attend the first meeting before the deadline stipulated in LC Paper No. CB(1) 2/98-99. The Clerk also drew the Chairman's attention to Rule 23 of the House Rules regarding late membership of committees. The Chairman suggested and members agreed that Mr YEUNG's application for membership be accepted.
15. The meeting ended at 9:25 am.
Legislative Council Secretariat
22 July 1998
