Boards and Committees
2017 Policy Address
(Paragraphs on development of Chinese medicine)
(V.) Improving People’s Livelihood
Healthcare Services
Development of Chinese Medicines
169. With increasing public demand for Chinese medicine services in recent years, we have enhanced training for Chinese medicine practitioners. The Government will strive to facilitate the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong so that it will assume a more prominent role in promoting public health.
170. As a first step, the Government will set up a dedicated unit under the Food and Health Bureau to oversee Chinese medicine development. The dedicated unit will be responsible for maintaining close liaison with the Chinese medicine sector as well as co-ordinating and implementing the strategies and measures for promoting the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. The unit will examine options to further the development of Chinese medicine, including exploring ways to open up markets in the Mainland and neighbouring countries.
171. The Government is actively planning for a Chinese medicine hospital at a site in Tseung Kwan O. Local stakeholders and overseas experts are being consulted on the governance framework, business model, operating model, financial model and contract management model of the hospital. We expect to announce in the first half of 2018 the positioning of the Chinese medicine hospital, as well as, the development framework for major areas of the hospital.
172. To foster the professional development of Chinese medicine practitioners, the Government will organise various training courses, such as diploma courses on Chinese medicine specialty for registered Chinese medicine practitioners and basic Western pharmacy training for Chinese medicine pharmacists. The Government will also provide relevant Chinese medicine training courses for medical practitioners, nurses and healthcare professionals. To attract more talent to join the Chinese medicine sector, the Government will review the remuneration package and promotion opportunities for staff employed at all levels in the Chinese Medicine Centre for Training and Research in the 18 districts.
173. The Government will also include information on Chinese medicine in the scope of information sharing in the second‑stage development of the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS). We will continue to standardise medical terminologies of the Chinese medicine and develop the Chinese Medicine Information System On-ramp so as to facilitate the access to, and sharing of, patients information among Chinese medicine practitioners who choose to use the eHRSS in future.
174. To develop Hong Kong into an international hub for scientific research on Chinese medicines testing and quality control, the Government will speed up the establishment of the permanent Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute, and empower the industry to strengthen quality control of their products through the development of internationally-recognised reference standards for Chinese medicines and related products and technology transfer.