CE officiates at &amp;quot;District Health Centre - New Journey in Primary Healthcare&amp;quot; Ceremony
15.6.2022

​The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, officiated at the "District Health Centre - New Journey in Primary Healthcare" Ceremony today (June 15), marking a new milestone in the development of District Health Centres (DHCs). The ceremony is one of the celebration events of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Other officiating guests were the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Health), Mr Thomas Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; and the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Henry Fan. Addressing the ceremony, Mrs Lam said, "This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR. It is also a significant time in which the primary healthcare development enters a new chapter under the effort of the current term of the Government. I have advocated in my first Policy Address in 2017 the setting up of DHCs that are operated in a brand new mode with a view to enhancing public awareness on preventive healthcare and personal health management through community networks. To date, DHCs or DHC Expresses have commenced services in 14 districts, and will be extended to cover the remaining four districts, namely Wong Tai Sin, Yuen Long, Southern District and Tsuen Wan, in the next few months. Upon their presence in all 18 districts within this year, the DHCs and DHC Expresses will serve as the important hardware for promoting the collaboration of primary healthcare services." She also pointed out that the Food and Health Bureau and the Steering Committee on Primary Healthcare Development (SCPHD) had drawn up a framework on the recommendations and goals of the Primary Healthcare Blueprint. The blueprint maps out the structural changes to the approach of the healthcare system necessitated to cope with the challenges in the decades ahead. The current term of Government will submit relevant specific recommendations to the next term of Government for consideration so as to formulate an appropriate implementation plan. Professor Chan said at the ceremony that the DHCs and DHC Expresses are supported by multi-disciplinary professional teams comprising nurses, allied health professionals, pharmacists, social workers and support staff. Networks are well established by DHCs and DHC Expresses to connect with family doctors, Chinese medicine practitioners and allied health professionals in the districts. Moreover, DHCs and DHC Expresses co-operate with the seven clusters of the HA. All these contribute to the provision of primary healthcare services to the public, including chronic disease management and rehabilitation. She appealed to the public to make good use of the various services provided by the DHCs and DHC Expresses to achieve "A Healthy Start" by taking a preventive approach in safeguarding their own health. Professor Chan also expressed her gratitude to the committee members of the SCPHD for their invaluable views over the past five years, as well as the 14 non-governmental organisations and their staff operating the DHCs and DHC Expresses for their efforts made in the past few years. At the ceremony, Mr Tommy Chow, who is a world champion of individual freestyle rope skipping and a three-time world champion in men's team rope skipping, was joined by representatives of the 18 DHCs and DHC Expresses to demonstrate stretching exercises to encourage the public to do more exercise every day. The four convenors of the SCPHD, Dr Lam Ching-choi, Professor Gabriel Leung, Dr Donald Li and Professor Frances Wong, shared the policy direction and focus of primary healthcare, including the co-operation between DHCs and DHC Expresses and different organisations to provide primary healthcare services, and collaboration with family doctors, Chinese medicine practitioners and more to engage the residents, thereby providing services in a more people-oriented manner to cater for the needs of local residents. At the ceremony, the Minister of the National Health Commission, Mr Ma Xiaowei, recognised in his video message the key role played by DHCs in primary healthcare. In addition, various representatives of a number of international organisations, as well as local professional organisations representing the multi-disciplinary professional teams of the DHCs and DHC Expresses, also congratulated with video messages for the new milestone of Hong Kong's primary healthcare services. They were the Regional Director for the Western Pacific of the World Health Organization, Dr Takeshi Kasai; the President of the World Organization of Family Doctors, Dr Anna Stavdal; the President of the International Council of Nurses, Dr Pamela Cipriano; the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine; the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing; the Hong Kong Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association; the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association; the Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association; the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong; the Hong Kong Academy of Accredited Dietitians and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. The HKSAR Government is determined to strengthen district-based primary healthcare services. Through medical-social collaboration and public-private partnership, the DHCs and DHC Expresses join hands with healthcare professionals of various disciplines to provide primary healthcare services, aiming to enhance co-ordination among various healthcare and social sectors and establish community healthcare networks. These will help empower individuals, families and communities in taking a preventive approach against diseases and self-managing their personal health conditions to reduce unnecessary hospitalisation. Starting from September 2019, three DHCs in Kwai Tsing, Sham Shui Po and Tuen Mun as well as DHC Expresses in 11 districts have commenced services progressively. The DHCs in the remaining four districts (Wong Tai Sin, Yuen Long, Southern District and Tsuen Wan) will also commence operation within this year in stages. For more details on DHCs, please refer to www.dhc.gov.hk . Today's ceremony can be reviewed on the RTHK website (television: www.rthk.hk/tv/dtt32/programme/districthealthcentrecampaign ; radio: www.rthk.hk/radio/radio2/programme/districthealthcentrespecial ) (Chinese only). Ends/Wednesday, June 15, 2022 Issued at HKT 19:02 NNNN