Selfless devotion: (From right) Permanent Secretary for Food & Health (Food) Stella Hung, Director of Food & Environmental Hygiene Cheuk Wing-hing, and Deputy Director of Health Dr Gloria Tam greets the public health team at the airport.

The Hong Kong public health team has returned  from Sichuan after providing  professional assistance to one of the towns hit hardest in the devastating May 12 earthquake.

Permanent Secretary for Food & Health (Food) Stella Hung, Director of Food & Environmental Hygiene Cheuk Wing-hing, and Deputy Director of Health Dr Gloria Tam greeted the team at the airport.

Mrs Hung expressed her deepest gratitude to the team and conveyed the Secretary for the Civil Service Denise Yue's appreciation, also.

The 15-member team included three Department of Health doctors, 10 health inspectors, foreman and workman grade officers from the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department, and two chemists from the Water Supplies Department. 

The team flew to Chengdu on May 19 and helped implement infection-control measures and environmental disinfection at hard-hit Yingxiu Town.

Deputy Director of the Hong Kong & Macau Affairs Office in the Sichuan Provincial People's Government, He Ping, and Sichuan Provincial Department of Public Health Deputy Director Zhao Xiaoguang presented a banner to the team for their efforts.