First, the population is aging. This means that the future health care bills will on one hand become more expensive as more elderly require more intensive medical and rehabilitative services. But on the other hand, if there are inadequate retirement income protection, these bills will be borne by fewer people. New technologies are generally labour intensive and tend to be financially expensive. Lastly, community aspirations add further pressure to cost.
People always tend to ask for more and better health care services as society gets more affluent.
In 1999, the government-commissioned Harvard Consultants studied into and analysed the weaknesses of our health care system. However, these recommendations were not well-received by the community. In spite of this, these recommendations and the community views formed the building blocks for our comprehensive review of the health care system. At the macro-level, we hope to protect and promote the health of our community and further upgrade the health status of our population through, for example, the wider application of Health Impact Assessment in social and economic issues. As to the individual level, the two health agencies, the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority will each have different but complementary roles to play.