Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan today toured the Chinese medicine facilities at a public hospital and briefed the stakeholders on the government policy to promote Chinese medicine in Hong Kong during the visit.

At the Chinese Medicine Clinic & Training & Research Centre (CMCTR) in Central & Western District at Tung Wah Hospital, Prof Chan met a number of young Chinese medicine practitioners.

She said: “As stated by the Chief Executive in her Policy Address, the Government has affirmed the positioning of Chinese medicine in the development of healthcare services in Hong Kong, and has rolled out various measures to promote its development.”

Prof Chan noted that two flagship institutions, the first Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hong Kong and the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute, will be commissioned in 2025.

She said the Government will continue to provide subsidised outpatient services through the 18 CMCTRs at the district level, develop integrated Chinese-Western medicine inpatient services and enhance the Chinese Medicine Development Fund.

It will also explore empowering Chinese medicine practitioners to prescribe diagnostic imaging and laboratory tests for their patients.

The health chief also highlighted two of Guangdong's major policy measures - recruiting Hong Kong Chinese medicine practitioners by public healthcare institutions in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and streamlining the approval procedures for Hong Kong registered traditional proprietary Chinese medicines for external use to be registered on the Mainland.

She encouraged local Chinese medicine practitioners to seize the opportunities to further their development so as to integrate into the national development and participate in the construction of the Chinese medicine highlands in the bay area.

Prof Chan then visited the CMCTR's consultation rooms and pharmacy to learn about their operation.

She said during the visit that since March 2020, the Government has been providing an annual service quota of about 620,000 for subsidised outpatient general consultation, acupuncture and bone-setting/tui-na services through the 18 CMCTRs, which are jointly operated by the Hospital Authority, non-governmental organisations and universities.

With the support of the Food & Health Bureau, the authority launched two special Chinese medicine programmes for those infected with COVID-19, further giving the sector full play to its strength in anti-epidemic treatment, Prof Chan added.

Concluding the visit by touring the integrated Chinese-Western medicine inpatient services ward at Tung Wah Hospital, she noted there are currently eight public hospitals providing such services, covering all seven of the authority's hospital clusters.

Inpatient and follow-up outpatient services are provided to those with selected diseases. To tie in with the sector’s long-term development, the authority is exploring further increasing the number of participating hospitals and disease areas and regularising the service.  

“With the development of primary healthcare in Hong Kong, Chinese medicine services are also part of the primary healthcare team. I hope CMCTRs will work closely with the District Health Centres or DHC Expresses in the 18 districts in Hong Kong,” Prof Chan added.