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LegCo to continue debates on provisions of Appropriation Bill 2013 and amendments to Bill at its Committee Stage
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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (May 8) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will continue the debates on the provisions of the Appropriation Bill 2013 and the amendments to the Bill at its Committee Stage.

     Members will also resume Second Reading debate on the Pilotage (Amendment) Bill 2013. If this Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will go to the Committee Stage and be read the third time.

     The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (Amendment) Bill 2013, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013, and the Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2013 will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debates on the bills will be adjourned.

     On Member's Bill, the Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2013 will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debate on the bill will be adjourned.

     In addition, the Secretary for Food and Health will move a proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2013 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2013, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on March 28, 2013.

     Mr Ng Leung-sing will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Banking (Capital) (Amendment) Rules 2013 and the Banking (Disclosure) (Amendment) Rules 2013 laid on the table of the LegCo on April 17,  2013, to the meeting of June 5, 2013.

     Mr Cheung Kwok-che will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance (Commencement) Notice 2013 laid on the table of the LegCo on April 17, 2013, to the meeting of June 5, 2013.

     On Members' Motions, Members will move a motion on the Drug Formulary and drugs subsidy system. The motion, to be moved by Ms Alice Mak, states: "That the Hospital Authority (HA) has implemented the Drug Formulary (the Formulary) system since July 2005 to standardise its policies on procurement and use of drugs; at present, HA's annual drugs expenditure only accounts for around 10% of its overall expenditure, and the responsibilities of including new drugs in the Formulary and reviewing the Formulary rest with HAˇ¦s Drug Advisory Committee and Drug Utilization Review Committee respectively; yet, the lack of transparency in the relevant work and low participation of other stakeholders have led people to question that the Formulary does not put patients' rights and interests first, resulting in patients having to purchase at their own expense drugs which are of significant efficacy but expensive; although the Government has put in place safety net systems such as the Samaritan Fund, etc., situations of patients suffering delays in treatment due to their inability to afford better but expensive drugs, having to sell their properties in order to purchase drugs, or relying on lower-quality drugs to extend their lives still arise, etc., reflecting the existence of many loopholes and inadequacies in the existing system; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to review the existing drugs policies and perfect the relevant mechanism, so as to provide assistance for more people in need; the relevant measures should include:

(1) to reform HA's Drug Advisory Committee and Drug Utilization Review Committee, include more representatives of stakeholders (including representatives of patients' organisations) and make public the records of meetings of those Committees, so as to increase the transparency of the process of formulating and reviewing the Formulary;

(2) when updating the Formulary, to correspondingly devote adequate resources to ensure that medical practitioners can prescribe the most suitable drugs according to patientsˇ¦ medical conditions;

(3) to take out HA's drugs expenditure from its overall expenditure estimates and allocate it to the various hospital clusters as an independent fund, so as to ensure that the funding is fully used for drugs expenditure and not used for other expenditure items;

(4) to expand the Formulary to include more drugs which are of significant efficacy but expensive as General Drugs and Special Drugs, so that more patients can use such drugs at standard fees and charges;

(5) to increase the expenditure estimates on drugs, and when considering whether to include certain drugs in the Formulary and the relevant categories, reduce the weighting of costs and prices and adopt efficacy and patient safety as the overriding principle, so that patients will not be forced to take lower-quality drugs due to the lack of financial means;

(6) to include more drugs in the subsidy coverage of the Samaritan Fund, and further relax the assessment criteria of the financial test of the Samaritan Fund by using the income and asset of individual applicants instead of households as the basis;

(7) to provide tax relief, so as to alleviate the financial burden of patients or their family members arising from the purchase of drugs at their own expense; and

(8) to consider abolishing the Formulary system in the long run."

     Dr Leung Ka-lau, Dr Joseph Lee, Mr Chan Han-pan, Mr Albert Ho and Dr Fernando Cheung will move separate amendments to Ms Mak's motion.

     Members will also debate a motion on maintaining a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong. The motion, to be moved by Mr Jeffrey Lam, states: "That, given the slow recovery of the global economy, this Council urges the Government to adopt proactive policy measures to maintain a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong and devote more resources to assist small and medium enterprises."

     Mr Tang Ka-piu, Mr Michael Tien, Mr Ip Kin-yuen, Mr Wu Chi-wai, Mr Yiu Si-wing and Mr Charles Peter Mok will move separate amendments to Mr Lam's motion.

     Meanwhile, Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, all of which require written replies.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found in the LegCo website.

     Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the public can also watch or listen the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo website.

Ends/Monday, May 6, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:16

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