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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Donald Tsang, at the opening ceremony of the Hospital Authority Convention 2002 today (April 29).
Dr Lo, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First, Dr Lo, I would like to welcome all those delegates who have travelled far to attend this Hospital Authority Convention 2002.
This annual event is an important forum to exchange ideas and find solutions to meet the challenges in our healthcare system. The Convention has generated great interest not only among local health care professionals, but also the worldwide healthcare community.
This year, the Convention celebrates its 10th anniversary. I would like to congratulate the organisers on reaching this milestone and for all their hard work and dedication in making this event a great success.
The high calibre of the delegates and distinguished guest speakers is testament to the high regard in which the convention is held locally and overseas.
There is a saying that "The health of the community is more important than the wealth of a community". While I certainly agree with these sentiments, it is equally true that the wealth of the community largely determines the quality of health care offered to its citizens.
Governments around the world - including ourselves - are having to grapple with devising a healthcare system that community can afford.
Here in Hong Kong, our policy is that no body should be denied adequate medical attention through a lack of means. But we are in the midst of carefully assessing and evaluating just how to sustain this policy in the long term.
While health policy will continue to be one of the top priorities on the agenda, it has become increasingly clear in the past few years that service delivery models that worked even a decade ago are no longer sustainable.
Rapid technological advances, more and varied treatment options, new and better drugs and escalating expectations are just some of the factors impacting on how we shall develop our healthcare system.
We must adopt new strategies to enable quality healthcare to our community in a cost-effective, equitable and sustainable way. Sustainability is crucial.
The pressure on healthcare financing stems from a combination of factors, the most prominent one being the rapid advances in medical science and technology.
Almost every week we hear of some new medical breakthrough. Complex and intricate surgery once thought impossible is now a reality. Genetic engineering, biotechnology and nano-technology hold the promise of wonderful new possibilities in the treatment of many illnesses.
These advances have induced swift and radical changes in the practice of medicine. In turn, the cost of providing health care also increased by leaps and bounds.
Changing demographics are also impacting on the provision of health care. People are living longer and, as a result, using health care services for longer.
We forecast that in the next 20 years, there will be almost 1.4 million people aged over 65 in Hong Kong, or about 15% of the projected population. Over one third of this group will be aged 75 and over.
Meeting the health needs of an increasingly ageing population, coupled with escalating public expectations, poses great challenges for our healthcare policy-makers and service providers.
Given these challenges, my colleague the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Dr E K Yeoh, and his staff have been working very closely with the Hospital Authority, health care providers and members of the public to devise a number of short-term as well as long-term measures to address the ongoing financing of our health care system.
The basic objective is to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our health care system, while not imposing an undue financial burden on future generations. We have focused on three areas:
First, contain costs in the public health care sector by rationalising the service delivery network, improving productivity and operational efficiency, structured management of healthcare technology, and development of clinical protocols to guide the use of available resources.
Second, conduct a full-scale review of the fee structure of public healthcare services with a view to channelling public subsidies to assist lower income groups and to finance services that may pose a major financial risk to patients.
Third, actively explore supplementary funding sources to pay for additional demand for healthcare services in the longer term. For example, facilitating new medical insurance schemes by the insurance industry in co-operation with the private sector, and studying the feasibility of introducing a medical savings scheme for our citizens.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Hong Kong is honoured to host this Convention. Indeed, the theme - "Knowledge, Partnership and Sustainable Healthcare" - is aptly chosen.
There is no doubt that sustainability is the crucial aspect we need to address if we are to achieve our vision as a world city, equipped with a world-class healthcare system - a system that supports the community's pursuit of good health, and adds value to the development of our society.
To ensure this sustainability, knowledge and partnership are the key factors we need to inject into our healthcare system. Our service delivery models must be built on the foundations of solid scientific knowledge and close inter professional, organisational and sectoral partnerships, and most of all on the partnership with the private sector.
I look forward with much interest to hearing from you on these three inter-related aspects of the healthcare system during this Convention.
I would now like to declare this Convention open. For those joining us from overseas, I hope you will have a pleasant stay in our dynamic city.
Thank you.
End/Monday, April 29, 2002
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