Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ15: Quality of medical services

Following is a question by Ir Dr Hon Ho Chung-tai and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (February 4):

Question :

It has been reported that Hong Kong has the potential to become a capital of medical services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of persons who came to Hong Kong for medical treatment in the past year and the countries they mainly came from;

(b) whether market research companies have compared the standards of the medical services in various places in the world; if so, of the ranking of Hong Kong's medical services; and

(c) whether it has plans to promote Hong Kong as a capital of medical services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply :

(a) The Government has no readily available information on the number of persons who came to Hong Kong for medical treatment in the past year, or the countries they mainly came from.

(b) We are not aware of any market research that have systematically compared the standard of Hong Kong's medical services with other places in the world. What are available for an indirect comparison are some key health indices which in part reflect the quality of medical services. In this respect, our health indices are among the best in the world. In 2002, our life expectancy at birth was 78.6 for men and 84.5 for women, and the infant mortality rate was as low as 2.4 per thousand live births.

(c) In this year's Policy Address, the Chief Executive has said that given the high professional standards of our medical and health services, they could be further developed to serve people in the Mainland and elsewhere in Asia. Since medical needs of the local population are predominantly met by the heavily subsidised public health care sector, we consider it more appropriate for the private sector to capitalise on the opportunities as portrayed in the Policy Address. In this connection, we have been working with the Trade Development Council (TDC) and local private hospitals/practitioners on how to promote Hong Kong's medical services overseas in particular in the Mainland. In fact, a consultancy study to identify and assess the options available is being planned by the TDC. We will continue to maintain close liaison with the local private healthcare sector and consider how our policies can facilitate development of their services for the clientele beyond Hong Kong.

Ends/Wednesday, February 4, 2004
NNNN