HONG KONG, Oct. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The Third Joint Meeting of Senior Health Officials of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, which was closed here Saturday, had reached consensus on the measures for preventing avian influenza and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

    "To prevent an outbreak in Winter, the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao would continue to implement the comprehensive avian influenza monitoring program to enable effective detection of viruses in the environment," the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food of Hong Kong government, Dr York Chow told a press conference.

    He said that the three sides agreed to further improve the notification mechanism on avian influenza so that the health as well as the inspection and quarantine authorities could identify any abnormality as soon as possible and adopt appropriate preventive measures.

    To prevent an outbreak of SARS in winter, it was agreed that exchange and collaboration should be further enhanced by making use of their respective advantages to step up disease surveillance,information exchange and collaboration on disease prevention to check the spread of the diseases, Chow said.

    In addition, the three sides reaffirmed the importance of food safety.

    The Fourth Joint Meeting of Senior Health Officials of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao would be held on the Mainland in 2005 to further explore the area of collaboration and to review the collaborative experience in the area of health, according to Chow.