Press Releases

SFH on Steering Committee on Review of the Regulation of Private Healthcare Facilities

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, at a media session on the first meeting of the Steering Committee on Review of the Regulation of Private Healthcare Facilities at the lobby of West Wing, Central Government Offices, Tamar, today (November 2):

Secretary for Food and Health: I have just convened the first meeting of the Steering Committee on Review of the Regulation of Private Healthcare Facilities. The meeting has decided to set up four working groups, each of which will focus on a priority area and conduct in-depth research and work out options for the way forward. These four priority areas are as follows. Firstly, differentiation of medical procedures and beauty services; secondly, definition of high-risk medical procedures performed in ambulatory setting; thirdly, regulation of premises processing health products for advanced therapies; and fourthly, regulation of private hospitals.

The first working group, chaired by the Director of Health, will comprise Steering Committee members as well as co-opted members from relevant medical specialties, the beauty industry and consumer groups. It will seek to address the health risk brought by beauty parlours improperly performing medical procedures under the cover of providing "medical beauty services". The working group is expected to present its initial recommendations to the Steering Committee in the second quarter of 2013. The remaining three working groups will be formed in the coming one to two months. Thanks.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)


Ends/Friday, November 2, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:29

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