The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) was a policy bureau of the

Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino-Br ...

from 2007 to 2022 that managed

food hygiene Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...

, environmental hygiene and health policies in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It was led by the

Secretary for Food and Health The Secretary for Health () is a ministerial position in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Health Bureau. The current office holder is Lo Chung-mau. The position was created on 1 July 2022, following the reshuffle of the principal o ...

(SFH) during its existence. Established in 2007 as one of the superseding agencies of the former

Health, Welfare and Food Bureau The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) was a policy bureau of the Government of Hong Kong from 2007 to 2022 that managed food hygiene, environmental hygiene and health policies in Hong Kong. It was led by the Secretary for Food and Health (SFH) d ...

, the FHB became defunct as of 1 July 2022, its responsibilities being split among the

Environment and Ecology Bureau Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB; ) is one of the fifteen policy bureaux of the Government of Hong Kong. The agency was established on 1 July 2022. The current (since 1 July 2022) Secretary for Environment and Ecology is Tse Chin-wan. This ...

and the Health Bureau.

History

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty in 1997 it was named Health and Welfare Branch. When the

Principal Officials Accountability System Principal Officials Accountability System, commonly referred to as the Ministerial system (), sometimes the Accountability System, was introduced in Hong Kong by chief executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002. It is a system whereby all principal ...

(POAS) was introduced in July 2002, the name of the Bureau was renamed from Health and Welfare Bureau to the name of Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, with the

Food and Environmental Hygiene Department The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is a department of the Hong Kong Government, reporting to the Environment and Ecology Bureau. It is responsible for food hygiene and environmental hygiene. It replaced part of the role of ...

being transferred from the now abolished

Environment and Food Bureau Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. In July 2007, the bureau was further renamed Food and Health Bureau, with its functions on welfare transferred to the

Labour and Welfare Bureau The Labour and Welfare Bureau () is an executive agency of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for employment, labor-development, manpower, human resources management, poverty-reduction, and social welfare in Hong Kong. The bureau is mana ...

. As part of the government bureaux restructuring initiated by incoming

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...

, the Food and Health Bureau was abolished on 1 July 2022. The Health Bureau is the direct successor agency of the former Food and Health Bureau, taking over the remaining policy portfolios after those on environmental hygiene, food safety, agriculture and fisheries, and veterinary public health were transferred to the

Portfolio

The bureau oversees policies on environmental hygiene, food safety, agriculture and fisheries, food markets, animal welfare, burial, reduction of salt and sugar in food , primary healthcare and disease prevention, Chinese medicine, regulatory regime, research and health data, health advisory and appeals, and planning for manpower, professional development and health infrastructure. The

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (; formerly the Agriculture and Fisheries Department () before 2000, of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for agriculture and fisheries in Hong Kong, conservation projects and issu ...

, and the Government Laboratory report to the Bureau. The Secretary for Food and Health also oversees the operation of the

Hospital Authority The Hospital Authority is a statutory body managing all the government hospitals and institutes in Hong Kong. It is under the governance of its board and is under the monitor of the Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong Government. ...

, a statutory body of Hong Kong which is responsible for managing Hong Kong's public hospitals services.

References

External links

Official website
{{Food and Health Bureau Hong Kong government policy bureaux Medical and health organisations based in Hong Kong 2007 establishments in Hong Kong

History

Portfolio

See also

References

External links