The Centre for Health Protection launched the Communicable Disease Information System today to enhance Hong Kong's surveillance and control of communicable diseases.
Officiating at the launch, Secretary for Food & Health Dr Ko Wing-man said the system marks an important milestone in public health protection in Hong Kong.
It will equip the centre with strengthened emergency preparedness against major outbreaks to stem the spread of disease in collaboration with medical organisations and community partners.
The system facilitates the infectious disease notification process and provides information technology infrastructure to connect existing disease surveillance and control systems on the same platform.
It links major sentinel stakeholders in Hong Kong so that data collected from different sources can be analysed in a timely manner and efficiently disseminated.
The centre can capture and analyse the trend of the spread of infectious disease in the community more effectively through the system.
It also provides regular feedback to data providers, facilitating timely and effective exchange of intelligence on disease surveillance and control so that relevant organisations can make appropriate arrangements in response to possible risks as necessitated by circumstances.
