Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

     Currently, eight of Hong Kong's 18 districts, including Tai Po and Sha Tin, have yet to set up District Health Centres (DHCs). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the expenditure, staffing establishment, number of members, service capacity targets and achievement rates for each of the operational DHCs and DHC Expresses (DHCEs) in each of the past three years; the respective numbers of activities, seminars, health risk assessments and various programmes (such as the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme) organised by these DHCs for primary to tertiary disease prevention services, along with the respective number of participants;

(2) whether the Government will expedite the development of the Tai Po DHC which is scheduled for completion in 2031, promptly finalise the site selection and completion timetable for the Sha Tin DHC, and consider establishing additional DHCEs within public housing estates in Shatin district to enhance public accessibility; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) the Government's projected reduction in the number of patients and expenditure involved in secondary and tertiary healthcare (namely hospital and specialist care, as well as specialised care) following the establishment of DHCs in various districts; whether performance indicators have been established in this regard?

Reply:

President,

     The Primary Healthcare Commission is progressively expanding the district health network with District Health Centres and District Health Centre Expresses (collectively referred to as DHCs) serving as hubs in accordance with the Primary Healthcare Blueprint (Blueprint), with a view to providing comprehensive, coherent and people-oriented multidisciplinary services, including chronic disease screening and management, family doctor pairing, nursing and allied health support, health risk assessment, community rehabilitation and health promotion. Prior to the commencement of District Health Centre operation, District Health Centre Expresses started to provide services of the same kind, enabling citizens to benefit earlier. The main differences between the two lie in the scale of facilities, site selection, and manpower allocation, while their functions are the same.

     My reply to the question raised by the Hon Chan Hak-kan is as follows:

(1) The expenditure of DHCs, including provisions for service contracts, site maintenance and rental cost, in the past three financial years is at Annex I. The information on staff establishment in 2025-26 is at Annex II. The cumulative number of attendances of all DHCs in Hong Kong exceeds 3 600 000, which includes health promotion/education, health risk assessment, screening, chronic disease management, with details at Annex III. 

     DHCs promote the "Family Doctor for All" concept. Following the introduction of the Chronic Disease Co-care Pilot Scheme (CDCC Pilot Scheme) in 2023, the number of new DHC members per year significantly increased from around 2 900 in 2019-20 to approximately 153 500 in 2024-25. To date, the cumulative membership of DHCs has reached 485 200. All DHCs attained the service volume targets in 2024-25.

     The screening of "three highs" under the CDCC Pilot Scheme has shown initial effectiveness. As at December 17 last year, around 185 200 citizens have enrolled in the CDCC Pilot Scheme. Among those, approximately 112 300 participants (i.e. about 60 per cent) have completed the screenings (Note 1), of which around 48 000 (i.e. about 40 per cent) have been diagnosed with prediabetes (Note 2), diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT) or dyslipidaemia. The latter participants can proceed to the treatment phase and will be subsidised by the Government to receive multidisciplinary follow-up in order to achieve the goal of "early identification and early treatment".

(2) The DHCs have achieved comprehensive coverage across all 18 districts of Hong Kong since 2022. The Health Bureau will continuously review the site selection of DHCs, taking into account the service model, demographic structure and distribution, demand, etc, with a view to providing convenient and district-based primary healthcare services.

     The Tai Po District Health Centre Express currently operates eight service points. During the relief work of the Tai Po Wang Fuk Court fire, it instantly deployed nurses to support the medical stations at temporary shelters, and also co-ordinated over 500 volunteer healthcare professionals for the provision of onsite medical assistance. Subsequently, it arranged case management primary healthcare services for affected residents relocated to different districts together with all DHCs in Hong Kong, which include pairing with free consultation services provided by Chinese medicine practitioners, doctors, dentists and psychological support, as well as co-ordinating arrangements for follow-up appointments and medication refills at the Hospital Authority.

     The Government plans to construct a community health centre building at the ex-Jockey Club swimming pool site at On Pong Road, and designate it as the site for the Tai Po District Health Centre. The Government is currently reviewing the building facilities arrangement and service design in light of the feedback from the Tai Po District Council (DC) last September, with an aim to ensuring the proposal meets community needs and is cost-effective. When the facilities are finalised, the works department will review and plan the implementation timetable for the project. We will strive to implement the project as early as possible.

    The Sha Tin District Health Centre Express currently has two service points, and is anticipated to establish a third service point at Lek Yuen Health Centre in the second quarter of this year at the earliest. In the longer term, it is tentatively planned to establish the Sha Tin District Health Centre in the Joint-user Complex for Community Facilities at Shan Mei Street, Fo Tan. This project received the endorsement of the Sha Tin DC in October 2021. Prior to the establishment of the District Health Centre, the Government will closely monitor the service needs and explore the addition or expansion of service points.

(3) The district health network is a vital component within the primary healthcare system. During the medical support efforts following Wang Fuk Court fire, DHCs have demonstrated their pivotal role as a hub to provide personalised case management primary healthcare services for affected residents, offering convenient and comprehensive support. By providing timely, appropriate and proper care within the community, and co-ordinating access to public healthcare, private healthcare and multidisciplinary medical services such as Chinese medicine and dental service for residents in need, this not only alleviates pressure on hospital services, but also delivers people-oriented and compassionate support at the community level.

     As set out in the Blueprint, the development of primary healthcare may delay and alleviate the healthcare burden on secondary and tertiary healthcare brought about by an ageing population and thus slow down the rate of increase in healthcare expenditure in the long run.

     Taking the CDCC Pilot Scheme as an example, the preliminary analysis conducted by a local university research team indicated that the CDCC Pilot Scheme performed well in terms of health benefits and cost-effectiveness. Participants' health conditions improved overall: after six months of participating in the Scheme, the average glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level of DM patients dropped from 7.8 per cent to 6.8 per cent; while the average systolic blood pressure of HT patients decreased from 151 mmHg to 136 mmHg. Based on a modelled scenario of 200 000 participants, it was expected that the Scheme could prevent approximately 9 000 cases of cardiovascular diseases and 11 000 deaths, thereby gaining approximately 54 000 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and saving $2.7 billion in health expenditure. 

     Taking Phase I of the Breast Cancer Screening Pilot Programme (BCSPP) as another example, from 2021 to 2024, over 37 000 women aged between 44 and 69 at moderate and average risk have received breast cancer risk assessment. The BCSPP showed that 97 per cent of breast cancer cases identified through breast cancer screening were at early stages, i.e. stage I or stage II. The risk-based screening can enhance the recovery rate of breast cancer patients through early detection and treatment, and will also lower the medical cost.

     We will continue to advance primary healthcare initiatives and evaluate their effectiveness to ensure that primary healthcare development enhances public health and fosters the sustainable development of the entire healthcare system. Thank you, President.

Note 1: The CDCC Pilot Scheme screened for DM and HT in the initial phase (before March 28, 2025), and was later expanded to include blood lipid screening. Therefore, some of the participants who completed the screening were screened for DM and HT only, while the rest were screened for the "three highs".

Note 2: Prediabetes with glycated haemoglobin level of 6.0 to 6.4 per cent or fasting plasma glucose level of 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/L.

Ends/Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:55

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