Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow today said the Government plans to inject $10 billion into the Samaritan Fund, benefitting another 2,300 people.

The fund assists patients in need by providing full or partial subsidies for self-financed drugs and medical items required in the course of medical treatment. 

Speaking to the media after attending a radio programme today, Dr Chow said the Government may add some drugs and medical equipment to the list of items the fund currently covers.

He said the funding would provide adequate provision for its operation over the next 10  years, and would be closely monitored.

In reply to a query on Hong Kong's medical expenditure, Dr Chow said Hong Kong’s healthcare service expense was 5% of gross domestic product, half from the public sector, and half from the private sector.

"The most important principle is to ensure that our medical and healthcare system can be sustainable and be able to cater for a majority of the essential needs of Hong Kong people," he said. 

Secretary for Food & Health York Chow says the Government will discuss with the Hospital Authority and private hospitals over the next two months, the need for an adjustment in the quota and policies regarding pregnant Mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong.

In a media session today, Dr Chow said the Government has cut the quota for Mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong to 35,000 for 2012, to ease demand for obstetrics services.

"We can see local mothers are giving birth more now, which is a very good sign, and more young people are getting married as well. This is very encouraging for Hong Kong. So we must reserve sufficient capacity for local parents," he said.

Dr Chow said the Government needs to adjust the quota every year, and is discussing the issue with Mainland authorities to deter people from trying to bypass the birth-registration system.

The community care service voucher pilot scheme will be launched in two phases from 2013-14.

Elaborating on the Financial Secretary’s 2012-13 Budget at a press conference today, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung said the scheme provides subsidies directly to eligible elders for them to choose the community services they need.

He said it will encourage different types of service providers to join the market, thereby promoting the further development of community care services.

The first phase is aimed at elders with moderate impairment, who will each have a single value voucher worth $5,000 per month, with the Government contributing $2,500 to $4,500. More complex features may be introduced in the second phase.

Mr Cheung said he will table the proposal at the Legislative Council later this month.

Meanwhile, the new Guangdong Scheme, which will provide the Old Age Allowance for eligible Hong Kong elderly who choose to reside in Guangdong, will be implemented in 2013-14.

The budget also proposed earmarking $900 million from the Lotteries Fund for improving the physical setting and facilities of up to 250 elderly centres.

Mr Cheung said recurrent expenditure on social welfare in the new fiscal year will be $44 billion, up 9% on the current year, and a 29% increase on 2007-08.

Recurrent expenditure on elderly care services in 2012-13 will be $5 billion, representing 11% of total expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure for elders on social security, elderly care services and healthcare services will be $43.5 billion, representing 16.5% of total recurrent government expenditure. It is an increase of 37% on 2007-08.

This year's Cheung Chau Bun Festival will be held April 8 to 29. Entries for the bun scrambling competition will be accepted from tomorrow until March 2.

Applicants must attend training sessions on climbing and safety training before taking part in the finalists' selection on April 15.

Twelve finalists will participate in the final competition at 11.30pm on April 28.

There will also be a bun-scrambling relay, plus a climbing carnival on April 22 featuring exhibition booths, game stalls, handicrafts, a lion dance and variety shows.

Enrolment forms for the competition will be available from tomorrow at the Leisure & Cultural Services Department's 18 District Leisure Services Offices, sports centres in Islands District, or from supporting organisations.

Completed forms should be faxed to 2854 3949 or returned by hand or post to the Islands District Leisure Services Office, Room 622, 6/F Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central, by March 2.

Call 2852 3220 for enquiries.

A $137 million increase in recurrent funding for the Dementia Supplement was announced in the 2012-13 Budget today to allow residential care homes and day-care centres to have more resources to engage professional staff or procure professional services.

Financial Secretary John Tsang announced the Government will also allocate $900 million under the Lotteries Fund to improve the physical setting and facilities of as many as 250 district elderly community centres, neighbourhood elderly centres and social centres for the elderly.

Mr Tsang said the Government's total expenditure on welfare for 2012-13 will exceed $48 billion, out of which $44 billion is recurrent expenditure, a 9% rise on recurrent expenditure in 2011-12.

Recurrent expenditure for medical services for the coming year will rise 8% to nearly $45 billion, with total expenditure in 2012-13 exceeding $59 billion.

Delivering his 2012-13 Budget today, Financial Secretary John Tsang said the amount of recurrent funding allocated to the Hospital Authority will increase by nearly 40% to $40 billion in 2012-13.

The authority will extend the coverage of its community-based case management programme for patients with severe mental illness to four more districts.

For medical manpower, the Government will allocate $200 million to increase the number of first-year first-degree places in medicine by 100, nursing by 40 and allied health professions by 146.

Queen Mary and Kwong Wah Hospitals will be redeveloped in the coming year to provide better health services.

The Government will also inject $10 billion into the Samaritan Fund to provide full or partial subsidies to patients for self-financed drugs and medical items.

Financial Secretary John Tsang will commission the Mortgage Corporation to introduce a three-year pilot microfinance scheme, offering a maximum loan tentatively capped at $100 million.

In his 2012-13 Budget speech today, Mr Tsang said the scheme will be operated on a self-financing basis with supporting services provided to make microfinance more viable, to help people wanting to start their own businesses or take self-enhancement training.

Target borrowers are business starters, self-employed people and those who wish to receive training, enhance their skills or obtain professional qualifications for self-improvement.

The repayment period will be as long as five years and the interest rate will be set with reference to that of the personal loans charged by banks in general.

The corporation will announce details on the scheme soon.

Mr Tsang also proposed injecting an additional $200 million into the Community Investment & Inclusion Fund, and make corresponding financial arrangements to incorporate the appropriate individual programmes of the Community Care Fund into the Government’s regular assistance programmes, subject to the views of the Steering Committee on the Fund.

The Major Sports Events Committee has awarded "M" Mark status to the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2012, to be held on February 5.

Committee chairman William Ko said today the marathon will attract more visitors to Hong Kong and reinforce its position as the events capital of Asia, saying "M" Mark events showcase the city's ability to host world-class events.

The number of recognised "M" Mark events increased from four in 2005 to eight last year. A total of $45.63 million has been approved to support recognised "M" Mark events.

For details click here.

Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow has formed the Steering Committee on the Strategic Review on Healthcare Manpower Planning & Professional Development.

Chairing its first meeting today, Dr Chow said the committee will conduct a strategic review on healthcare manpower planning and professional development.

It comprises 19 non-official members from the healthcare, education, social services and business sectors, as well as overseas experts, and five ex-officio members, including representatives from the Labour & Welfare Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Department of Health.

They will forward recommendations on how to cope with anticipated demand for healthcare manpower, strengthen professional training and facilitate professional development.

"As announced in the Chief Executive's 2011 Policy Address, the strategic review is part of a three-pronged action plan to take forward healthcare reform initiatives based on the outcome of the Second Stage Public Consultation on Healthcare Reform.

"The review underlines the Government's commitment to ensuring an adequate supply of healthcare manpower professionals as the healthcare system grows and expands to cater for the community's future healthcare needs.

"With their wealth of experience in public service and the healthcare field, I believe the members of the committee will contribute to the formulation of pertinent and balanced recommendations in the overall public interest."

Click here for details.

Five items failed Centre for Food Safety tests for chemicals, bacteria and radiation in December, representing a pass rate of 99.9% for the 14,400 samples checked.

A roast duck sample contained residues of non-permitted veterinary drug, Chloramphenicol, while a frozen confection contained excess bacteria.

The three other unsatisfactory samples have already been announced, comprising a sweetened winter melon, a bamboo fungus and a sliced sea volute, which all contained excess preservative sulphur dioxide.

The December check brought the total samples tested by the centre last year to 64,900, seeing an overall satisfactory rate of 99.7%.

Primary and secondary school students with a flare for drawing are invited to enrol in the Hong Kong Flower Show 2012 student drawing competition, before February 14.

The competition will be held on March 16 from 9am to noon at Victoria Park.

The four categories are Primary One to Primary Three, Primary Four to Primary Six, Form One to Form Three, and Form Four to Form Seven. Contestants must enrol through their schools.

Each category will have a champion, first runner-up and second runner-up, 10 highly commended entrants and 15 certificate of merit winners.

All winning entries will be displayed at the Kowloon Park Arcade and online at the Leisure & Cultural Services Department’s website in May.

Click here for details, or call 2928 8183.

The remaining 158 water samples taken from the whole Tamar site have passed safety checks for Legionella bacteria.

The Centre for Health Protection today said laboratory tests on the samples found they did not exceed the action level of one colony-forming unit per millilitre.

A total of 451 post-disinfection samples were collected from the Chief Executive's Office, the Legislative Council Complex, the Central Government Offices and Tamar Park to ensure the Legionella bacterial count had returned to normal levels.

The standard payment rates under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme and the rates of Old Age Allowance and Disability Allowance will increase 5.2% from February 1.

The Social Welfare Department said today the adjustments have been made in line with the movement of the Social Security Assistance Index of Prices.

An additional expenditure of $12.46 billion per year will be incurred for the adjustment, benefiting 1.1 million recipients.

The maximum rent allowance under the scheme will also be adjusted upwards according to the movement of the Consumer Price Index A rent index for private housing by 5.7% on the same day.

Recipients can contact their social security field units for enquiries or call 2343 2255.

Laboratory tests have confirmed a dead goose found in Sham Tseng was H5N1-positive.

The highly decomposed carcass was found on Anglers' Beach on January 20.

The Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department will continue inspecting poultry farms to ensure proper precautions against avian influenza have been implemented.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung visited two elderly homes in Tak Tin Estate, Lam Tin, today, offering Lunar New Year blessings to their residents.

He first visited Grace Nursing Home, where he joined a birthday celebration for two centenarians, and sang new year songs with the residents of Sheng Kung Hui Home of Loving Care for the Elderly.

With an ageing population in Hong Kong, he said the Government attaches great importance to elderly care, increasing its commitment of resources in recent years.

Estimated recurrent expenditure on social security, care and medical services for the elderly in 2011-12 amounted to $39.6 billion, up 25% on 2007-08 and taking up 16.4% of recurrent government expenditure.

On elderly care services alone, estimated government spending amounted to $4.39 billion in 2011-12, up nearly 12% on the previous year.

From now until 2014-15, seven new contract homes will come into operation. About 2,300 new subsidised places will be provided through various types of residential service. The number of additional subsidised nursing home places accounts for an increase of almost 50% on the existing places.

"Apart from that, we will continue to seek both qualitative and quantitative improvement of private residential care homes for the elderly through the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme," he said.

The Ministry of Health today notified the Centre for Health Protection of a confirmed human case of H5N1 in Guizhou, involving a 39-year-old man.

The patient developed symptoms on January 6 and was admitted to a hospital on the same day. The man did not have a history of exposure to poultry before he became ill. 

Laboratory tests by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control & Prevention yielded a positive result for H5N1.

The centre is liaising with the Ministry of Health to obtain more information on the case.

There were 930 foster families and 904 children receiving foster care service at the end of 2011, the Social Welfare Department says.

Foster care provides residential family care for children whose parents cannot adequately take care of them due to ill health, mental or physical disabilities, divorce, imprisonment, drug rehabilitation or child abuse, so they can continue to enjoy family life until they can reunite with their families or find other long-term social welfare arrangements.

Mrs Au and her husband have two grown sons and have also been providing emergency foster care service on a voluntary basis for 13 years. Ten-year-old Ah Yee is their 120th foster child.

Ah Yee's case social worker arranged for her to join the foster family three months ago when neither her mother, who needed to receive long-term treatment, nor other relatives could take care of her.

This year marks Ah Yee's first Chinese New Year celebration with her foster mother and father. Thanks to her foster family, Ah Yee feels loved and cared for.

"Ah Yee is a well-behaved child. Although she was a bit shy upon her arrival, she quickly adapted to the new family life after we kept on communicating, playing and enjoying meals with her," Mrs Au said.

"The Chinese New Year celebration is the first of its kind for us and Ah Yee. We will make some special preparations for her, including festive home decorations and traditional food. As a new member of our family, she will also join us when we visit relatives and friends."

As a foster parent, Mrs Au's new year wish may be different than others.

 "Since foster care is just a transitional arrangement, I hope the children can eventually return home and reunite with their family members," she said.

In taking care of foster children over the years, Mrs Au has been deeply impressed by the intimate relationship built up between her family and the children they foster. One of her former charges, now about 20 years old, still keeps in regular contact and comes to visit the family on festival days.

Established in 1982, the department’s Central Foster Care Unit oversees and co-ordinates the provision of foster care services provided by 11 non-governmental organisations – the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, Hong Kong Christian Service, International Social Service Hong Kong Branch, Mother's Choice Limited, Sheng Kung Hui St Christopher's Home, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, Po Leung Kuk, Hong Kong Children and Youth Services, Hong Kong Student Aid Society, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, and Yan Chai Hospital Social Service Department.

 Click here for more information on foster care service or call the Central Foster Care Unit at 2573 2282.

The Centre for Food Safety says the import of live poultry and poultry products, including poultry eggs and chilled and frozen poultry, from the Shenzhen Import Control Zone will resume tomorrow.

Following the confirmation of a human case of avian influenza H5N1 infection earlier in Shenzhen, the centre designated the area within a 13-kilometre radius of the residence of the infected person in Baoan Shajing, Shenzhen, as an import control zone for 21 days from January 1.

The centre said today as Mainland authorities had taken appropriate monitoring and control measures, and no notifications of new poultry or human cases of H5N1 infection in that area have been received since January 1, the import of live poultry and poultry products from the area will resume.

The Leisure & Cultural Services Department is hosting Lunar New Year fairs across Hong Kong to ring in the Year of the Dragon.

The largest will be in Victoria Park, where people can shop for festive ornaments, food and other treats.

Meanwhile, colourful lanterns will be on show in the Cultural Centre Piazza, resembling the 12 creatures of the Chinese zodiac.

Their designs showcase the many styles of traditional folk toys from across the Mainland.

The news.gov.hk team wishes readers a prosperous Year of the Dragon.