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Following is the translation of the speech delivered by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the launching ceremony of the campaign for the "Promotion of Healthy Ageing"
at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium today (September 29):
Mr Tam, Dr Wu, our elderly friends, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to take part in today's launching ceremony of the Campaign for the "Promotion of Healthy Ageing" together with some two thousand distinguished guests here.
As a result of environmental improvement and medical and technological advances, the life expectancy of the Hong Kong population, like many other countries, is ever increasing. It is forecasted that in the next 20 years, the number of people aged 65 years or above will reach 1.37 million, which is about 15 per cent of the total population. Over one third of the elderly population will be 75 years old or above. As you all know, caring for the elderly has always been one of my major concerns and remained high on the agenda of my policy priorities since I assumed the office of the Chief Executive. We aim at giving the elderly a sense of security, a sense of belonging and a sense of worthiness.
To achieve this objective, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has invested considerably on the improvement of the elderly services over the past three years. What we have done begins to produce results:
Firstly, the waiting time for public rental flats for the single elderly has been reduced from four years in 1997 to three years at present on average as a result of the implementation of the elderly priority scheme and provision of additional rental flats for the elderly by the Housing Authority. We are committed to further reducing the waiting time for the single elderly to two years.
Secondly, the number of subsidised residential care places for the elderly has increased from 15 400 to 21 800 over the past three years, thereby reducing the waiting time from 29 months to 21 months on average. We will continue our efforts to further reduce the waiting time, improve the service quality of private residential homes for the elderly and encourage the home operators to apply for license. Of the 500 private residential care homes, the number of licensed homes have increased from 14 in 1997 to about 450 today.
Thirdly, we continue to put in additional resources in the past few years to reinforce home care and community care services for the elderly, and to provide support for people who tend the elderly at home. Take home care service for example, Government's provision has increased by 65 percent from $230 million in the year of 1996/97 to $380 million this financial year. The number of people receiving this service has increased from 18 000 to over 28 000. We will earmark an additional provision of $64 million this year to further improve the home care and community care services for the elderly in poor health.
In addition, to meet the needs of the changing elderly population, we are also studying the operation of day care homes and community care service, so as to formulate long-term strategy to provide better facilities and services which will better meet the needs of the elderly.
For the past three years, the Elderly Commission has put forward useful recommendations on the provision of housing, residential care places and home care service for the elderly. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. TAM and other members of the Commission for their valuable contributions.
To achieve the objective of giving the elderly a sense of worthiness, the Elderly Commission, in response to the call of the United Nations, took the initiative in 1999 to organise a series of activities to commemorate the International Year of Older Persons and encourage harmonious relationship between the elderly and the young people. I am delighted to learn that the Commission continues its efforts in this direction today by launching a three-year campaign for the "Promotion of Healthy Ageing", so as to put across the message of healthy ageing to the elderly, the people who are about to join this age group and our community as a whole.
Health is our most precious asset at all age. The passage of time, of course, will inevitably leave some sort of marks on our body. But ageing does not mean debilitating. The aim of the Campaign for the "Promotion of Healthy Ageing" is to promote the elderly's awareness of the need to stay healthy, to maintain a healthy diet and a fine mode of living, to actively participate in social activities, to keep an optimistic outlook on life, and develop their strengths by drawing on their life experiences, thereby continue to contribute to their family and remain a great asset to society.
The HKSAR Government has the responsibility to ensure the success of the "Promotion of Healthy Ageing" Campaign. Moreover, we need to pull together the strength of every sector of our community, including voluntary organisations, community bodies, and members of our community, to work towards this goal. The relevant bodies and organisations have in the past provided valuable services to the elderly. I earnestly hope that in future, the Government can continue to maintain a close working relationship with them, and that concerted efforts can be made in achieving the goal of promoting physical and mental health of the elderly.
Lastly, I would like to call upon every member of our community to put practice into action. We should attach importance to our health, and maintain a cheerful and positive attitude toward life. We are master of our own life. Let's make it a full and fulfilling one.
Thank you.
End/Friday, September 29, 2000
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