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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The agenda of the Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting, scheduled for today (May 15) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex, has been revised. During the meeting, Members will continue considering the amendments to the Appropriation Bill 2013.
Members will also resume Second Reading debates on the Pilotage (Amendment) Bill 2013 and the District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2013. If these Bills are supported by Members and receive their Second Readings, they will go to the Committee Stages and be read the third time.
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.
Meanwhile, 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.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a proposed resolution under the Loans Ordinance to resolve that: (a) the Government be authorised to borrow from any person from time to time for the purposes of the Bond Fund established by a resolution made and passed under section 29 of the Public Finance Ordinance (Cap. 2) such sums not exceeding in total $200 billion or equivalent, being the maximum amount of all borrowings made under this paragraph that may be outstanding by way of principal at any time; (b) sums borrowed under paragraph (a) are to be credited to the Bond Fund; and (c) this Resolution is to replace the Resolution made and passed by this Council on July 8, 2009 and published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 169 of 2009.
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 HA's Drug Advisory Committee and Drug Utilisation 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 Utilisation 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 patients' 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 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.
In addition, Members will debate a motion on the 4 June incident. The motion, to be moved by Mr Albert Ho, states: " That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated."
Members will also move a motion on the democratic procedures for the election of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage in 2017. The motion, to be moved by Mr Alan Leong, states: "That Qiao Xiaoyang, Chairman of the Law Committee under the National People's Congress, made a speech on March 24 this year, indicating that regarding the election of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR by universal suffrage, 'the issue that requires a consensus is essentially about the democratic procedures for nomination'; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government to ensure that, irrespective of how various sectors interpret the so-called 'democratic procedures for nomination', when formulating the proposals on the election of the Chief Executive in 2017, the rights to make nomination, to stand for election and to vote are universal and equal, without any 'screening' or 'pre-selection' through a nominating committee."
Mr Ip Kwok-him, Mr Wong Yuk-man, Mr Michael Tien and Ms Cyd Ho will move separate amendments to Mr Leong's motion. Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move an amendment to Mr Ip's amendment.
During the meeting, Members will ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies. (Pursuant to the decision of the House Committee and the choice made by the Members concerned, the six oral questions will not be asked at this meeting and will be deferred to the Council meeting next following the completion of the proceedings on the Appropriation Bill 2013.)
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/Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Issued at HKT 00:34
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