The Department of Health (DH) today said it is following up on the suspected illegal importation of blood samples from pregnant women on the Mainland for fetal gender testing in Hong Kong.

The DH noted that it has recently received media enquiries concerning individuals who promote services on social media platforms that involve arranging blood draws for pregnant women on the Mainland and smuggling blood samples into the city for fetal gender testing. 

Apart from referring information regarding the two laboratories in question to the Medical Laboratory Technologists Board for appropriate actions against the registered medical laboratory technologists concerned, in accordance with the Allied Health Professions Ordinance, the DH has also notified the relevant Mainland authorities and referred the relevant cases to Customs.

The department stressed that it will continue to follow up on the matter seriously and take enforcement actions in accordance with the relevant regulations, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, to safeguard public health.

Under the Allied Health Professions Ordinance, no registered medical laboratory technologist may perform tests for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment without a referral from a registered medical practitioner or other specified healthcare professional.

In addition, according to the Prevention & Control of Disease Regulation, any person who imports any excreta, secretion, blood or blood component that the person has reason to suspect contains an infectious agent should obtain prior written permission from the DH.

The department’s investigation revealed that the two laboratories involved - NovaGene Diagnostic Laboratory and Zentrogene Bioscience Laboratory - falsely claimed in online postings to be "medical laboratories accredited by the DH". The DH pointed out that this information is false and misleading as it does not accredit any medical laboratories.

Furthermore, the DH said its records show that two other institutions, named "Nova Medical" and "Hong Kong BOYA Medical Center", have neither applied for clinic licences or letters of exemption for small practice clinics under the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance, nor registered under the Medical Clinics Ordinance. Despite this, "Hong Kong BOYA Medical Center" claimed to be a "Hong Kong registered medical clinic".

The department has referred these cases to Customs for follow-up and requested the removal of all misleading statements.

Moreover, during the investigation, the DH found that advertisements for other services published on the websites of the relevant medical centres involved are suspected of breaching the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance. The department has issued warnings to the medical centres and ordered the immediate removal of the non-compliant advertisements.