Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government is considering offering the public and poultry workers free flu vaccine.

Director of Health of Hong Kong Health Department Lam Ping-yan said Friday at a Legislative Council meeting that, the government encourages poultry workers to have flu vaccination and is ready to provide free vaccines for the workers when needed.

Lam said that the Hospital Authority (HA) is considering offering free flu vaccines to outpatients of hospitals as well.

According to a HA spokesman, in order to enhance citizens' resistibility to influenza, doctors of the outpatient department will suggest patients to receive injection, while patients themselves can decide whether having vaccination or not. The spokesman said that the HA has enough vaccines to meet the needs.

Besides, Lam said that HA and the Health Department have already sent representatives to Guangdong to discuss the measures on controlling bird flu as well as the communication mechanism between the two sides if bird flu bursts out.

With the aim to reduce the chance of bird flu outbreak, Hong Kong government decided to stop importing live chickens and stop local farms from selling chickens to the wholesale and retail markets.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2004)