The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, today (August 23) led a delegation from the Department of Health (DH) to attend the Health Working Group (HWG) Plenary Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials' Meeting in Dalian.
     　
     "China is the host of APEC 2026. I am deeply honoured to once again lead a team from the DH of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government to attend the HWG Plenary Meeting. We exchanged views with representatives from other APEC member economies on addressing global health challenges and deepening public health co-operation, building on the achievements leading up to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November and working together to ensure that 2026 APEC 'China Year' yields fruitful results," Dr Lam said.
     　
     The HWG Plenary Meeting will be held over two consecutive days. During the meeting, member economies will share the latest developments and experiences on several key topics, including promoting healthy ageing, improving maternal and child health and addressing low fertility rates, applying AI in healthcare, strengthening the role of traditional medicine, enhancing surveillance and emergency preparedness for infectious diseases, as well as harmonising science-based regulatory standards for medical products. The HWG also endorsed the "APEC Healthy Ageing Action Plan 2026-2030". Representatives from the DH will share the HKSAR Government's development and policy direction of traditional Chinese medicine as well as the progress in transforming into an international health and medical innovation hub, including the optimisation of drug approval and registration system, as well as the establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation by this year.
      
     In addition, APEC held a series of public health exchange activities prior to the HWG Plenary Meeting, including a discussion panel on the "APEC Action Plan to End the HIV Epidemic 2026-2031", which was released in May this year. A DH representative shared the HKSAR's Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) policies and prevention and control measures.
      
     The DH has actively collaborated with and participated in APEC's public health initiatives. With the support of the National Health Commission and the Health Bureau of the HKSAR Government, the DH has promoted health collaboration and capacity building in the Asia-Pacific region, contributing to global public health.

     "Under the principle of 'one country, two systems' and with the unwavering support of our country, the DH will continue to leverage the HKSAR's distinctive advantage of having strong support from the motherland and close connection with the world, giving full play to its role as a 'super connector'. The DH will continue to deepen professional exchanges and collaborations with the APEC member economies in the healthcare field, actively participate in global health governance and contribute to building a global community of health for all. This year marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan. In the field of healthcare, the HKSAR will actively integrate into and serve the country’s overall development, implement a health-first development strategy and contribute to the goal of building a 'Healthy Asia-Pacific' through the APEC platform," Dr Lam said.
     　
     The HWG of APEC is a regional health forum for cooperation and it dedicated to demonstrating the value of health to economic growth and development, and to building awareness of the return on investment in health innovation. The goal of the HWG is to help reduce the impact of health-related threats to the economy, trade and security of member economies. The HWG aims to strengthen health systems to increase their efficiency, responsiveness and resilience to achieve and maintain universal health coverage. The HWG's three priorities this year are "openness", "innovation" and "cooperation".
           
     Following the conclusion of the HWG meeting, the DH delegation will also visit the Health Commission of Dalian to exchange views on health information technology, health and medical innovation, as well as the Health Commission of Dalian's experiences and action plan regarding the "Healthy Dalian" initiative.

Ends/Sunday, August 23, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:34

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