Policy Address 2024 | New healthcare initiatives announced by CE, including third medical school and primary care overhaul

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee delivers his third Policy Address today (Oct. 16) at 11 a.m.

To enhance the health of the people of Hong Kong, improve healthcare protection and quality, and capitalize on our healthcare professions' strengths, the government will conduct a comprehensive review of the positioning and objectives of the healthcare system. 

The government will promote the development of primary healthcare on all fronts, including:

1. formulating legislation to strengthen the regulatory framework of primary healthcare and authorize the PHC Commission to set up quality assurance and monitoring mechanisms;
2. developing a community drug formulary and launching a community pharmacy program to help the public obtain affordable, primary-healthcare drugs through central purchasing and the community network;
3. devising health promotion strategies by adopting a life-course framework to formulate health management plans for the public according to age and health conditions;
4. revamping maternal and child health and family-planning services to strengthen pre-pregnancy counseling and parental education and promote healthy fertility;
5. strengthening the Whole School Health Programme to recommend targeted school-based measures for physical activities, meals and other matters for each school to improve students' physical and psychological well-being;
6. upgrading more District Health Centre Expresses into District Health Centres (DHCs), and expanding the service network, and integrating the services of Woman Health Centres and Elderly Health Centres;
7. expanding the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme to cover blood lipid testing; positioning the HA's general out-patient services as the comprehensive, primary healthcare service providers for the underprivileged;
8. formulating risk-based screening programs for prevalent cancers on a gradual basis, including breast cancer screening, exploring the use of AI to assist lung cancer screening, and implementing hepatitis B screening to prevent liver cancer;
9. launching a Primary Dental Co-Care Pilot Scheme for Adolescents to encourage the prevention of dental diseases, as well as a Community Dental Support Programme to enhance dental services for underprivileged groups. This would include elderly persons in financial hardship, replacing the Community Care Fund Elderly Dental Assistance Programme, and introducing preventive dental services for pre-school children; and
10. continuing efforts in tobacco control.

The government will strengthen the HA's public healthcare services, including:

1. reviewing the structure and levels of the HA's fees and charges to encourage prudent use of services and direct resources to patients who need them most and for those with serious or critical conditions, while increasing support for patients with financial difficulties and strengthening the financial sustainability of the targeted subsidization of public healthcare services;
2. strengthening the centralised procurement of drugs and medical devices by various clusters of the HA system in order to enhance their bargaining power and to expedite, in a more proactive manner, the introduction of new drugs, meeting efficacy and cost-effectiveness standards to the Drug Formulary;
3. formulating a directory for inherited and rare diseases by using the Hong Kong Genome Institute's genomic data, thereby facilitating early diagnosis and treatment by clinical teams, while supporting relevant research and clinical trials to promote precision medicine;
4. fully integrating the paediatric services of various clusters at Hong Kong Children's Hospital and developing more advanced healthcare services to make the best use of the Children's Hospital;
5. finalising the projects and timetable of the Second Hospital Development Plan to dovetail with the development of the Northern Metropolis and to address the needs of local districts;
6. setting up, in accordance with national accreditation standards, the first stroke centre and the second chest pain centre;
7. enhancing the triage system and referral arrangements for specialist out-patient services, including setting up inter-specialty, integrated, out-patient clinics to avoid the need for multiple referrals; and
8. increasing the service capacity for cataract surgeries by at least 20%.

The Government will also enhance the quality and efficiency of healthcare services, including:

1. establishing a professional platform for developing evidence-based clinical protocols and exploring the feasibility of devising service quality and efficiency standards for public and private healthcare sectors;
2. developing quality indicators for public and private healthcare systems and exploring legislating for private healthcare price transparency to enhance service efficiency and address the issue of medical inflation, with the plan to consult the healthcare sector next year; and
3. amending relevant legislation to require all healthcare providers to deposit essential health data in the personal eHealth accounts of members of the public, enabling the latter to have more complete electronic health records and enhance continuity of medical care.

In addition, the government will proactively admit more non-local doctors, nurses and dentists to enhance manpower, and establish a third medical school.

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