March 9, 2023
Over the past three years, traditional Chinese medicine has achieved significant effectiveness in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, with outstanding results that are there for all to see; again proving that traditional Chinese medicine is highly effective in disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and more, and is highly popular among the public. Although public demand for traditional Chinese medicine services continues to increase, traditional Chinese medicine development in Hong Kong still faces many obstacles. Today(March 9), the DAB published the "Policy Initiatives on the Development of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong" to assist the government in coordinating and promoting the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong at the policy level.
DAB legislator and President of the Hong Kong Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association Chan Wing Kwong pointed out that Hong Kong has long lacked a comprehensive development blueprint for traditional Chinese medicine, and also lacked high-level organizations to promote the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, which has constrained the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong for decades.
At the meeting, the DAB put forward the following initiatives to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong: establish a vision and positioning of traditional Chinese medicine services in the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint"; upgrade the "Chinese Medicine and Chinese Herbal Medicine Development Committee" to the "Hong Kong Chinese Medicine and Chinese Herbal Medicine Development Council"; add traditional Chinese medicine representatives to the governance structure of the Hospital Authority; promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine specialties; promote the industrialization of traditional Chinese medicine; increase funding allocation for public traditional Chinese medicine services; adjust the service fees and subsidized outpatient quotas of traditional Chinese medicine clinics; establish additional publicly operated traditional Chinese medicine clinics directly run by the government; expand public traditional Chinese medicine inpatient services and exempt traditional Chinese medicine consultation fees; establish traditional Chinese medicine departments in public hospitals; launch primary healthcare and health promotion programs involving traditional Chinese medicine; review laws to empower mutual referrals between traditional Chinese medicine and other medical professionals; empower traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to direct patients for diagnostic imaging tests and laboratory examinations; establish a statutory registration system for Chinese herbal medicine practitioners; conduct timely human resources planning and professional development strategies for traditional Chinese medicine practitioners; allocate more resources to subsidize the purchase of traditional Chinese medicine services by various residential institutions; and carry out traditional Chinese medicine public education and promotion in primary and secondary schools.
Media enquiries:
DAB LegCo member/ President of the Hong Kong Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association Chan Wing Kwong (9497 2015)
DAB LegCo member Edward Leung (9665 0660)
DAB LegCo member Ben Chan (9274 7035)