The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated one of Hong
Kong's labs as its Supranational Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory,
the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(HKSAR) said Saturday.
This brings the number of tuberculosis reference labs designated
by WHO up to 25 in the world.
The lab is scheduled to monitor tuberculosis treatment and
control worldwide.
The designation reaffirmed the Hong Kong lab's proficiency in
performing anti-tuberculosis drug susceptibility testing, said York
Chow, the secretary for HKSAR's Health, Welfare and Food Department
at a brief ceremony to mark the designation.
The Hong Kong lab has supported the control program of
tuberculosis and provided quality lab services for the clinical
management, surveillance and epidemiological investigations of the
disease in the city.
The lab is capable of processing 400 to 500 specimens daily. It
has provided technical assistance to tuberculosis labs in China's
mainland and Laos.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2006)