Press Releases

Call for Health Care and Promotion Fund applications

The Food and Health Bureau invites non-profit-making organisations to submit grant applications for the Health Promotion Projects and the Seed Funding Scheme under the Health Care and Promotion Fund (HCPF). The HCPF provides funding support to projects that help people adopt healthier lifestyles by enhancing awareness, changing adverse health behaviours or creating a conducive environment that supports good health practices.

Health Promotion Projects should contain a set of co-ordinated activities to promote good health and prevention of illness in the community, while Seed Funding Scheme projects aim to facilitate the mobilisation of local resources to promote health in the community and encourage partnership between public, private and non-governmental organisations.

A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said today (April 29) that the HCPF now invites innovative proposals addressing specific areas of health promotion listed in the thematic priorities. The suggested health promotion work should be based on scientific evidence and evaluated in a systematic way. Collaborations between universities and community organisations are highly encouraged to generate new evidence-based practice which can be applied in our local community.

Principal applicants must represent a non-profit-making organisation, a registered community group or a group formed under a registered non-profit-making body. Successful applicants may be awarded full or partial support normally not exceeding $300,000 on a one-off basis for Health Promotion Projects and $500,000 for the Seed Funding Scheme.

Priority consideration will be given to applications targeting underprivileged groups vulnerable to ill health and health promotion programmes carried out in primary-care settings in the following thematic areas:

* Tobacco control
* Lifestyle, nutrition and physical activity
* Mental well-being
* Injury prevention
* Reducing alcohol-related problems
* Promoting family doctor model of care
* Empowering the community in the management of chronic diseases and strengthening preventive care in children and elderly
* Cancer prevention
* Breastfeeding
* Healthy use of Internet and electronic screen products
* Organ donation

The closing date of applications is July 29, 2016 (6pm Hong Kong time). All applications will be subject to rigorous review by the HCPF Committee and its Promotion Sub-committee, which comprise healthcare professionals and experts, individuals closely involved in community affairs and government representatives.

Assessment criteria include relevance to thematic priorities, scientific evidence of effectiveness of the proposed health promotion activities, innovation, evaluation plan of programme effectiveness, sustainability of the programme, cross-sector collaboration, feasibility, justification of requested budget, and track record of the administering institution and applicants.

Guidance notes, application forms and details on thematic priorities can be obtained from the website of the Food and Health Bureau's Research Fund Secretariat at rfs.fhb.gov.hk. Enquiries can be faxed to 2102 2444 or emailed to rfs@fhb.gov.hk.

Established by the Government in 1995, the HCPF's purpose is to strengthen health promotion and disease prevention work. To date, over 300 health promotion projects have been supported.

Ends/Friday, April 29, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:24

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