Flu alert pamphlets in Hindi and six other ethnic minority languages will be distributed in Hong Kong as part of the effort to heighten public awareness about the H1N1 virus.
Indian travellers to Hong Kong will, on arriving at the airport, receive the Hindi-language pamphlet, which gives details on the background of the virus, its symptoms, mode of transmission, management and prevention. The pamphlet will also be distributed at ethnic minority schools in Hong Kong, Consulates-General, religious organisations, hospitals, and public transport facilities.
This is part of an effort by the Hong Kong government to alert the public on the prevention of the human H1N1 flu, a government spokesman said. Apart from Hindi, the pamphlet will be available in Urdu, Nepali, Thai, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Spanish. Chinese- and English-pamphlets are already in circulation.
Hong Kong is home to an estimated 250,000 domestic workers, principally from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, but also from the Indian subcontinent.
The flu alert pamphlet is in addition to a multilingual phrasebook for emergencies, prepared by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong government. That phrasebook, translated into 18 languages (including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali and Gujarati), covers a list of essential medical questions to facilitate communication between medical staff and patients who cannot speak either English or Cantonese.
The only diagnosed H1N1 patient in Hong Kong was discharged on Friday. Nevertheless, Hong Kong authorities are not lowering the health emergency.
The enforced week-long quarantine of over 300 guests and staff at a downtown Hong Kong hotel where the H1N1 patient had checked in has been criticised as an overreaction On Friday, Health Secretary Dr York Chow said that there was perhaps a case for reviewing quarantine procedures in the light of the lessons learnt from the recent experience.
