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Elderly Commission supports elderly initiatives in Budget
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The following is issued on behalf of the Elderly Commission:

     The Elderly Commission welcomed a number of Budget initiatives to support the elderly and face up the challenges of ageing population.

     The commission held its meeting today (March 6) and members supported the Budget for putting forward a range of innovative measures to foster the well-being of the elderly amidst the financial crisis.

     The Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Dr Leong Che-hung, said, "The commission has all along attached importance to the well-being of our elderly. With an ageing population, individuals, families and the community should all make a commitment for our elderly. Through launching a series of pilot projects by the commission during the past two years, it is clear that elders are keen on lifelong learning and can become a new driving force in the community to assist their neighbours."

     The Elderly Commission welcomed the Government's move to beef up and expand the "Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project". The project promotes the setting up of mutual aid networks among elders and volunteers through cross-sectoral collaboration and inter-generational integration. A new series of projects, the "Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project - Prevention of Elderly Suicide", will be launched in the next financial year. With the support of the Hospital Authority and welfare organisations, the projects will aim to enhance community efforts to prevent elderly suicide. A total of 33 district projects will be rolled out in the territory in April, bringing the total number of neighbourhood district projects to 75.

     "We have yet to achieve the vision of 'education for all ages' and we should all devote our efforts to this cause. As the elder academies have made good use of community resources and have developed a sustainable mode to promote self-help and mutual aid among elders, the Government made a further step to establish an Elder Academy Development Foundation. In this regard, the Elderly Commission will invite school sponsoring bodies and the welfare sector to set up more elder academies in primary and secondary schools to provide elders with more learning opportunities," Dr Leong said. Information about the opening of elder academies is available from the Elder Academy website (http://www.elderacademy.org.hk).

     The Elderly Commission was pleased to learn that the Education Bureau acknowleged the collaborative efforts of the elder academies and community partners in offering learning opportunities to students, and helping to foster positive values and attitudes and promote whole-person development and life-long learning among students. Such learning opportunities fit in with the targets of "other learning experiences" under the New Senior Secondary School Curriculum.  The Education Bureau's support will likely attract more schools to participate in the scheme.

     The commission also welcomed the Budget's initiative to set up a dedicated portal for the elderly. The commission members said this was a forward-looking measure that has taken into consideration the needs of the elders in a digital era.

     "At present, the Citizen Home Safety Association's Personal Emergency Link Service and Hong Kong Housing Society each run a webpage on elderly services. It will be a real breakthrough for the two website providers in Hong Kong to work together and set up a new portal for the elderly using the seed money provided by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. The new portal will be dedicated to providing information of interest to the elderly, such as elder academies, concessions for elders, housing for the elderly and the silver hair market," Dr Leong said.

     Furthermore, the Elderly Commission welcomed the Government's fund allocation to enhance elderly care services. These included increasing subsidised residential care places through new contract care homes and the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme; and strengthening care of infirm elders and those with dementia in residential care homes.

     "On medical and care services, the Elderly Commission welcomed an increase in allocation to the Hospital Authority and the implementation of health care service reform as mentioned in the Budget. The proposed measures included enhancing primary care services for chronic patients, developing a territory-wide electronic health record system, promoting public-private partnership as a platform for medical reform to give more choices for the needy. We hope that the concept of 'money follows patient' will be realised soon," he said.

     In addition, the Elderly Commission hoped that the Development Bureau's "Operation Building Bright" campaign would be implemented as soon as possible so that elderly people will benefit as well.

     In conclusion, the Elderly Commission welcomed the Budget's holistic approach to provide a series of support services to the elderly through cross-bureaux collaboration by the Labour and Welfare Bureau, Education Bureau, Development Bureau, Food and Health Bureau and Hospital Authority. The commission hoped that the Government would continue to face up the challenges of ageing population with the community and various sectors.

Ends/Friday, March 6, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:34

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