A six-member medical team, comprising doctors, nurses and health professionals in rehabilitation services, flied from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Monday to Chengdu, capital of the quake- stricken Sichuan Province.

It was the fifth team sent by the Hospital Authority to Chengdu since an 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province on May 12, killing over 60,000.

Forty-four healthcare professional from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority were currently in Sichuan to provide medical support services for the injured.

Dr. Tong Hon-kwan, consultant at the Queen Mary Hospital, will succeed Dr. Lau Chor-chiu of the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital to co-ordinate the medical team's work in Sichuan. Lau will return to Hong Kong on Wednesday.

People in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has donated hundreds of millions of dollars for relief efforts in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2008)