Hong Kong's 2026 Policy Address outlines a healthcare reform that shifts the system toward prevention, integrates prevention with treatment, and clarifies roles among the Hospital Authority (HA), Department of Health (DH), and the Primary Healthcare Commission. The aim is to strengthen community-based care, improve hospital capacity and patient protection, and reinforce Hong Kong's position as a health and medical innovation hub.
On primary healthcare, the government will upgrade selected District Health Centres (DHCs) into full DHCs, integrate Elderly Health Centre services from last year, and add about 220,000 extra HA family medicine outpatient quotas annually starting next year (including evening slots). It will also launch a Community Pharmacy Programme from late this year with a citywide rollout, expand preventive dental services for high‑risk groups, and publish a Life-course Health Promotion Strategy to support population-wide health management.
For public healthcare, the HA will develop Hong Kong's first integrated ambulatory care hospital at King's Park, including high-capacity cataract, radiology, and radiotherapy centers. Hospital expansion under the First Hospital Development Plan is expected to be complete by 2031, raising public beds to about 35,000 and operating theatres to around 360, with a Second Hospital Development Plan to follow within the current term. Cancer care will be strengthened through the Hong Kong Cancer Strategy, including more imaging capacity, greater use of AI-assisted diagnosis, and faster access to new drugs via fees-and-charges reform.
The policy also targets shorter specialist waiting times, aiming to halve first‑consultation waits for stable new cases in selected specialist services within five years. Regulation will be tightened through planned legislation on price transparency in private healthcare and reforms to professional governance. Digital health will advance via eHealth+, expanding record sharing (including cross-boundary functions). Finally, the Government will support the third medical school (HKUST, with the first intake planned after facilities are completed by mid-2028) and expand Chinese medicine services and research, including 24-hour inpatient services at the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong and more integrative Chinese-Western programmes.
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