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LCQ8: Cardiac health
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    Following is a question by the Dr Hon Yeung Sum and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 27):

Question:

     It has been reported that the number of people undergoing Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (commonly known as "balloon angioplasty") has increased in recent years.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether the number of people diagnosed with coronary and other heart diseases has been on the rise in recent years and whether there is a trend of occurrence of the diseases at a younger age; if so, of the details; whether it will conduct a large-scale survey to find out the cardiac health of the Hong Kong population;

(b) of the respective expenditures on the prevention, examination and treatment of various heart diseases by the public healthcare system in each of the past three years; and

(c) whether it will, following other countries' practice, consider launching large-scale community-wide campaigns and implementing corresponding measures for improving the cardiac health of the public, such as setting target morbidity and mortality rates of the diseases, allocating resources for the examination, early diagnosis and treatment of the diseases, as well as strengthening health education and promotional activities to avoid excessive intake of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by the public, thereby reducing their risks of developing the diseases?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) According to figures from 2001 to 2005, the age-specific mortality rate of heart disease for people aged between 20 and 44 did not show an upward trend.  In order to obtain the health profile of our population, the Department of Health (DH) has carried out population-based health surveys.  From the Population Health Survey conducted in 2003-04, it was calculated that the prevalence rate of coronary heart diseases (CHD) among local people aged 15 and above was 1.6%.  DH has also commissioned the Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct a survey on cardiac health in order to examine the prevalence of the cardiovascular diseases and the related risk factors.

(b) DH has strived to facilitate the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and other chronic illnesses through the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and tobacco control. The expenditures arising from these activities in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 were $60.40 million, $72.40 million and $73.70 million respectively.  In addition, various health service providers under DH with children, youth, adults and the elderly as their clients have also organised a wide array of activities oriented towards the prevention of chronic illnesses and health promotion.

     As regards the Hospital Authority, the treatment, examination and prevention of cardiovascular diseases are normally conducted as integrated services and therefore a breakdown of the respective expenditures is not available.  The major expenditures on cardiovascular diseases over the past three years are shown in Annex.

(c) DH will conduct surveys as well as monitor the morbidity and mortality rates of cardiovascular diseases in the population of Hong Kong, with a view to developing its work strategies for the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases.

     For the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, it is most important to foster healthy living habits.  According to the estimation of the World Health Organization (WHO), over 70% of new cases of CHD are related to smoking, unhealthy diet and inadequate exercise.  WHO therefore advises people to guard themselves against cardiovascular diseases through the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, such as refraining from smoking, doing appropriate amount of exercises daily, taking healthy diet and maintaining a suitable body weight.  In view of this, DH will continue to promote a healthy lifestyle to the public.

     At present, the screening for cardiovascular diseases is not foolproof and has certain limitations, such as the occurrence of false negative or false positive results.  False negative occurs when the test cannot detect the presence of disease in a person with that particular disease, resulting in delay in treatment.  False positive occurs when the test classifies a healthy person to have a particular disease, thereby causing unnecessary anxiety and follow-up tests.  Unnecessary check-ups are more than a waste of money and time.  They may even do harm to one's health.  Therefore, we have no plans to conduct any comprehensive screening for cardiovascular diseases for the time being.

     Having regard to the above limitations of screening, many countries, such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore, have mainly followed a policy of prevention and monitoring to reduce the CHD risk factors.

     DH has been using various means, such as roving exhibitions, the website of the Central Health Education Unit and all sorts of publications, to provide the public with information on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and healthy lifestyle.  On tobacco control, the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2006 has expanded the statutory no smoking areas to include all indoor workplaces and public places, as well as many outdoor areas such as public beaches, escalators, hospitals, schools and the Hong Kong Wetland Park.  DH is also offering smoking cessation service to the public.  For promotion of a healthy eating habit, DH has launched an "EatSmart@school.hk" campaign and a "Two Plus Three Every Day" campaign(*).  In addition, the "Exercise Prescription Project" is also in full swing.  Through the project, DH joins hands with medical associations and community organisations in promoting physical activity to the public.

Note (*): To promote health, DH is running the "Two Plus Three Every Day" campaign to encourage people to eat at least 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables as part of a balanced diet every day.

Ends/Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:15

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