Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ7: Health and Health Services Research Fund
Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (March 16):
Question:
The Government set up the Health and Health Services Research Fund in 2002.
Three broad themes, namely public health, health services and Chinese medicine,
were identified under the Fund as priorities for research. In this connection,
will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the respective numbers of applications received by the relevant authorities
for research studies under the three themes since the establishment of the Fund
and, among them, the number of successful applications and the respective
amounts of funds granted, as well as the number of unsuccessful applications,
together with a breakdown by the reasons for their being unsuccessful; and
(b) the details of the research studies on Chinese medicine which were financed
by the Fund and produced research results conducive to the formulation of public
health policies?
Reply:
Madam President,
(i) The Health and Health Services Research Fund was established in 2002 to
generate knowledge of local relevance to support formulation of policy relevant
to maintaining an efficient and cost-effective health care system and maximising
public health. Taking into account international experience, a two-tiered
peer-review process has been put in place to ensure that only research projects
of high scientific merit and of potential local application and benefit will be
funded. The first tier of review process involves local and overseas experts to
assess the scientific merits and ethical issues of applications. The second-tier
involves the Grant Review Board, comprising representatives from government
departments, academic sectors and hospitals, who shall take into account the
local relevance and importance of the applications, to make a funding
recommendation. The Research Council of the Fund, under the chairmanship of the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, will make the final funding decision. In
line with standard of other international funding agencies, the successful
application rate is around 25 per cent.
Since the establishment of the Fund, two open calls for applications were issued
in November 2003 and September 2004, respectively. A total of 74 applications
(November 2003 round) and 98 applications (September 2004 round) were received
in these two open calls. A total of 18 applications amounting to $8.03 million
from the 2003 round, which focused on the thematic priorities have been
approved. Among the 56 rejected applications, 46 were of poor scientific
quality, nine were out of the scope of the Fund and one was withdrawn by the
applicant.
The Research Council is reviewing the 98 applications from the latest call. With
the recent approval from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council for
additional funding for the Fund, a funding decision will be made in April 2005.
A table showing the distribution of the grant applications received and funded,
together with it grant size, in accordance with the three priority themes is
shown in
Annex.
(ii) The Fund was only established in 2002 and out of the 18 approved projects
in the 2003 round, only one is on Chinese medicine. The objective of the
research is to assess the therapeutic effects and safety of a Chinese medicine
capsule in children with atopic dermatitis. This one-year research has just
commenced and result is expected to be available in 2006.
Ends/Wednesday, March 16, 2005
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