Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said on Tuesday that the government would continue to review and refine the strategy to fight against A/H1N1 flu taking into account local experience and global developments.

Chow, who attended the World Health Organization's annual assembly and a roundtable meeting on the pandemic in Geneva on May 18, said the views shared by various countries at the meetings gave a better understanding of the new disease and the global situation, according to the Hong Kong government website on Tuesday.

"We must continue to refine our strategy and measures to make it sustainable, focusing on close contacts and their early tracing and identification, and adjusting our measures to ensure that they are effective and proportionate in achieving our containment objective, especially whether close medical surveillance with chemoprophylaxis can also achieve effectively the containment objective vis-a-vis quarantine, before the first confirmed local transmission case emerges in Hong Kong," Chow said.

Enhanced measures suggested by the government include to call upon all concerned to strengthen pre-flight health education, appeals and warnings to passengers coming from affected countries; to prepare for closure of schools for young children and opening of designated clinics of the Hospital Authority in anticipation of community transmission; to further step up cleaning and environmental hygiene measures and engage the community to prepare for the mitigation phase.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2009)