About 175,000 residents have received their seasonal influenza jabs between September last year and August 18 this year, an increase of 19.1 percent over the same period of last year, among which, the vaccination rate of children under the age of three has reached 56.9 percent, while the vaccination rate among kindergarten, primary school and secondary school students stood at 81.3 percent, 78.7 percent and 67.3 percent respectively, with the rate among senior citizens living in residential care homes having reached 91.6 percent, according to the Health Bureau (SSM).
The government-appointed Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council held yesterday its regular meeting at the Seac Pai Van Community Complex in Coloane, during which three senior SSM officials, including Wong Weng Man, chief of the SSM Health Promotion Division, briefed 16 members about the newly-launched “Healthy Macau Blueprint”.
Quoted by the council’s deputy convener Ng Hong Kei during yesterday’s post-press briefing, the officials expressed their concerns at the meeting about the “relatively” low vaccination rate of tetanus, pertussis and measles among adults, urging “all adults to pay close attention to whether they have been vaccinated or not”.
The officials, according to Ng, once again reminded members of the public that 15-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV15) jabs are now available at local health centres and stations, providing parents of children aged under two with more choices among PCV15 and 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13).
In terms of the “Healthy Macau Blueprint” which sets out in detail 20 specific objectives and 52 assessment indicators in various areas, such as health risk factors, mental health, chronic diseases and infectious diseases, to be achieved by 2030, Ng quoted the officials as noting that the bureau would, in the next few years, cooperate with community doctors, community medical facilities and medical centres through various means, such as the government’s Heathy Entrepreneur Programme, and even with family doctors, to merge private and public resources to bring the city’s entire health management to the whole community, building up a more comprehensive health management network, adding that the bureau expected to set up a “Healthy Macau” concept with the joint efforts by the public and the community as a whole.
According to the bureau, 17 enterprises have so far participated in its Healthy Entrepreneur Programme, covering 100,000 employees.
Three Health Bureau (SSM) officials, including Wong Weng Man (centre), chief of the SSM Health Promotion Division, address yesterday’s regular meeting held by the government-appointed Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council, at the Seac Pai Van Community Complex in Coloane. – Photo: Yuki Lei
