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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for the Administration, Mr Henry Tang, on public consultation on healthcare reform at the meet-the-media session at West Wing, Central Government Offices today (March 13):
Chief Secretary for Administration: The Government launches today the public consultation exercise on healthcare reform.
Healthcare reform concerns the welfare of each individual in our community and our future generations. It is an essential element of the Government's population policy. In face of an ageing population and rapid advance in medical technology, the Government has the responsibility to join hands with our community to solve the problem of ever increasing medical costs. This is crucial to ensure that each and every fellow citizen can continue to enjoy quality healthcare services.
This consultation document sums up the discussions over the past decade about healthcare reform and the financial arrangements. It draws on the relevant experiences of developed countries and the views of experts from various sectors. To tackle the shortcomings of the existing healthcare system, the consultation document puts forward a package of targeted solutions to reform various aspects of healthcare services and the market structure.
These proposals include enhancing primary healthcare, developing electronic health record sharing, promoting public-private partnership and strengthening public healthcare safety net. They are aimed at maintaining our quality healthcare service, enhancing the efficiency of the healthcare system, promoting competition in service delivery, while at the same time improving health through preventive care, and ensuring that no one would be left unattended. These proposals have far-reaching implications. So I hope they get a fair share of our discussion.
In addition, all researches we have done show that we cannot turn a blind eye to the problem of resource constraints caused by an ageing population and rising medical costs. In other words, the problem is not going to go away by itself. Public funds come from the people and should be used for the people. The Government has made a firm commitment to allocate more resources to healthcare and has set aside a handsome portion of fiscal reserves to implement healthcare reform. As such, public expenditure will remain the major financial resource of our healthcare system.
Meanwhile, we also need to introduce a supplementary financing scheme to meet increasing healthcare expenditure and to carry forward the reform measures. The consultation document sets out six supplementary healthcare financing options. We hope the community will actively participate in open and rational discussions about the pros and cons of these options and make an informed choice.
We have deliberated this for years. We have come to a critical point of action. As a committed government and a responsible citizen, the million-dollar question in front of us is what sort of healthcare system we want, for ourselves, for our family and for our future generations.
I hope we will make good use of this opportunity to think carefully about this important long-term issue. Give us your views, forge a consensus, and a quality healthcare system that offers more choices and better protection for all.
Thank you very much.
Reporter: How is the Government going to convince people to pay more for medical care especially the middle class? And the Government has also committed a lump sum to start off this scheme. Will you carry on, can you guarantee that it will carry on to the next administration? ...give a commitment that it will carry on after the current SAR Government.
Chief Secretary for Administration: Actually, I am not exactly sure what you are asking. Let me phrase it this way. The Government's commitment is everyone should not be denied of proper healthcare because of need. Our public healthcare system today provides for that. On the other hand, in view of an ageing population as well as advance in medical technology, healthcare technology, our current model is not sustainable without some form of supplementary healthcare financing. Therefore, at this stage of our exercise, we have tabled for community consideration and for discussion six different models of healthcare financing. We hope the community will make the maximum use of this opportunity to discuss the pros and cons with a perspective of their own individual cases.
Reporter: How are you going to sell this idea as they should pay now?
Chief Secretary for Administration: I think most people here today are middle class. You are one of our middle class. You consider in the context that when you grow older it's likely that you will require more healthcare services. You are more susceptible to catching a cold. You may have a requirement for hospitalisation service. I hope you don't but I think people expect that when they become more elderly, the chances will be higher. So you will ask what kind of healthcare system do I want and we want to offer you choices. It is important that you have choices, whether private or public services, or, in terms of public services, what sort of standards do you want. So we want to offer people choices but we can't offer people so many choices today without some kind of supplementary financing. And that's what the discussion is about.
Reporter: What do you make of criticisms that the Government and the Administration has mishandled the situation that in fact last night's sudden moves to close schools for primary students ... have in fact ....public anxiety on the issue that the international concern on developments in Hong Kong? Secondly, will the Administration plan on seeking advice from overseas experts to find out the cause of the outbreak?
Chief Secretary for Administration: First of all I would like to reiterate that York Chow consulted me as well as the Chief Executive on the decision to suspend all primary and kindergarten schools for two weeks. I support his decision because it is a cautious approach. We accept there are clinical considerations as well as community considerations, so it is a cautious approach. We want people to be cautious; we want people to be on the alert that if they are in crowded places they should be careful not to pass your germs on to other people if you are not feeling well. On the other hand we don't want to cause community panic so we took that cautious approach based on our known facts. Flu is actually a cycle and we want to break this cycle and cut down on the chances of any cross infections, so we have taken that cautious approach.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Thursday, March 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:45
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