Disease expert's contract blow called loss for HK

It will be Hong Kong's loss when government epidemic adviser Keiji Fukuda leaves, says a fellow adviser and Chinese University respiratory medicine expert, David Hui Shu-cheong.

His comment came as news broke that Fukuda will leave his position as head of the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health by the end of next year after failing to get a contract renewal.

The 65-year-old professor is one of the experts advising the SAR government on Covid-19, along with HKU Faculty of Medicine dean Gabriel Leung, HKU chair professor of Infectious Diseases Yuen Kwok-yung, and Hui of Chinese University.

Local media reported that Fukuda's contract renewal application passed the university's academic review, but was rejected by the president and vice-chancellor, Zhang Xiang, for not fulfilling the requirement of having a top academic achievement.

A HKU spokesman said the university will not comment on individual personnel cases due to personal privacy issues.

"The retirement age for all staff in the university is 60," he said. "Professors who are reappointed after the retirement age, especially after the age of 65, are rare cases who display an exceptionally high level of academic achievements."

"The university's decision on personnel appointments is based on the standard of personal academic achievements and the development needs of the university," he added.

Speaking on a radio program yesterday, Hui said it would affect the university and Hong Kong if Fukuda leaves the city.

"Fukuda is a good friend of mine. He is capable and very knowledgeable about public health and all kinds of infectious diseases," he said. "He is absolutely a talent in the field of public health."

Hui said Fukuda had worked in the World Health Organization as a spokesman for many years and is good at handling the press.

He has also given a lot of advice on how the government should disseminate information and communicate with the public on infectious diseases.

Fukuda joined HKU in December 2016 and became the director of the School of Public Health in 2017.

Before joining HKU, he worked atWHO as assistant director-general for health security and environment, where he led a team to investigate the MERS outbreaks in the Middle East and Korea.

During his tenure at the WHO from 2005 to 2016, he was also a special adviser to the director-general on pandemic influenza, special adviser for antimicrobial resistance and director of the global influenza program.

Fukuda also previously worked at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during which he led field teams that assisted Hong Kong during the 1997 avian influenza H5N1 outbreak and many other field investigations.