Press Releases
SFH on healthcare reform and avian influenza
Following is the transcript of remarks (English portion) made by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session at
the Legislative Council Building today (February 9):
Reporter: Will the second stage of (healthcare reform) consultation go
ahead?
Secretary for Food and Health: At the moment, I think I have to say that the
Government has no plan of delaying our work. We are still doing the
necessary studies and planning for the second stage of the consultation.
Reporter: Because of the financial crisis, things might change and you might
have to change the options?
Secretary for Food and Health: As I said earlier, the work has to go on and
we have done two polls in December, actually right after the financial
tsunami and the financial downturn. The public still feel that we should
press ahead for our work, with more than 70% of the response coming back to
encourage us to continue our work and also put up the next option for
consultation.
Reporter: $50 billion has been set aside. Can it be used now?
Secretary for Food and Health: It was very clear from the Financial
Secretary's statement last year and also repeated recently, and also from
our policy point of view, that the $50 billion is reserved for initiation of
any financial incentive for healthcare financing. It is not used to put into
any service. The Budget would address some of the service needs of the
bureau, including public healthcare services.
Reporter: Because of the financial crisis, will there be anything that you
could help the underprivileged in terms of healthcare financing?
Secretary for Food and Health: As you know, the existing Hospital Authority
policy also allows anybody with low income to apply for waiving or subsidy
in our healthcare services, so the existing mechanism can address those who
are deprived of any means, particularly those who are receiving the
Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. The existing system can cope with
this type of cases. So far we have not received any significant increase in
applications in this area.
Reporter: (closure of Mai Po due to avian flu)
Secretary for Food and Health: We know that if we ban certain areas
resulting in closure of a place, it always causes inconvenience as well as
loss of revenue for the related organisation. But the policy is based on
international standards, so I think we should stick to that standard.
(Please also refer to the
Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, February 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 11:29
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