*********************************************************
Following is the speech delivered by the Director of Home Affairs, Ms Shelley Lee, at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Healthy Cities and Health Promoting Universities today (December 7): (English only)
Professor Arthur Li, Dr Hisashi Ogawa, Professor Dakui Yin, Professor Rance Lee, Professor Sydney Chung, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured to be invited to this opening ceremony of the Conference on Healthy Cities and Health Promoting Universities and the Symposium on Health Education and Health Promotion, and to share with you our experiences in promotion of health in the community.
Health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. It is the source that enables individuals to fulfill human potentials and maximize capabilities, achieve success at work, enable social participation, and enjoy a good quality of life. Investment in health can bring invaluable returns of a productive, vibrant and successful community.
It has all along been the policy of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region to promote health and well-being of the population amongst our rapid developments. Over the years, Hong Kong has developed equitable, affordable and accessible health care services. In fact, we rank among the top in health care and medical services in many respects, including life expectancy, bed/patient ratio, and doctor/population ratio.
Still, prevention is better than cure. Apart from combating diseases, Hong Kong has devoted much efforts in improving health and preventing illness. In recent years, health promotion projects have been organized with keen support from various local organisations. A three-year campaign, 'Healthy Living into the 21st Century' was launched in May 1998 to instill a healthy lifestyle concept in the community through promotion of healthy habits, proper hygiene practices and environmental improvements. While this campaign has been completed, its lasting legacy stamps from the innovative proposals from Dr S H Lee on the establishment of "Healthy Cities". Dr. Lee promoted his proposals actively among our districts, and we have taken on the idea and have not looked back. It is our aim to introduce this concept in all our 18 districts. While our districts differ significantly in population size, ranging from 180,000 [but with a floating population of 300,000] in Wanchai, to 620,000 in Shatin, they face similar problems of congested living and working environments. Hence, the "Healthy Cities" project will go a long way to enhance the health of our population and improve the community's quality of life.
We have two success stories. Sai Kung and Wanchai districts have taken the lead to build up "Healthy Cities". Steering Committees chaired by the District Council Chairmen are set up to map out the strategy and implementation plans. Local leaders, medical and health professionals as well as academics are invited to be members of the Committee. This close partnership with the various sectors ensure effective co-ordination among relevant components in the districts, and provide leadership to arouse public awareness on health issues. The new town of Tseung Kwan O in Sai Kung, with a population of over 250,000 residents, has made remarkable progress in this project. The Sai Kung Committee has in fact signed up with Glasgow as Healthy City Partnership. It has also registered in the regional database of Healthy Cities of the World Health Organisation Western Pacific Region in 2001. We hope to continue such international linkage which will surely help to enhance our work in improving our congested environment and in revitalizing our community.
The promotion of health and health education activities need the full co-operation and support from all sectors, including the professionals, the academics government and non-government organizations and the community. The Conference on Healthy Cities and Health Promoting Universities and the Symposium on Health Education and Health Promotion is a vivid example of good partnership in health education and I congratulate the Chinese University of Hong Kong for taking this initiative. I am sure many innovative ideas and approaches will come out from the Conference and the Symposium. These will help us to formulate new strategic directions to promote the message of healthy lifestyle and lifelong wellness in the local community.
I wish all of you a successful Conference and Symposium.
End/Friday, December 7, 2001
NNNN
