Speeches

Opening Remarks by SFH at the
4th Medical Education Conference 2018
Hong Kong Academy of Medicine
5 May 2018

Prof LAU (Chak-sing) (President, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine),
Prof (Gilberto) LEUNG (Co-Chairman, Organising Committee of the conference),
Prof (George) WONG (Co-Chairman, Organising Committee of the conference,
distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

 

1. Good morning everyone.
2. It gives me great pleasure to join you at the opening of the 4th Medical Education Conference (“MEC”) held by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. First of all, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our distinguished guests, especially those who have travelled to Hong Kong from around the world. I trust that you will enjoy our hospitality and wish you a wonderful stay with us here.
3. The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is dedicated to organizing, promoting and accrediting specialist training for medical doctors and dentists. Thanks to its relentless effort in enhancing the professional standards of the medical and dental specialists and providing continuing medical education for all general practitioners in Hong Kong, our community is being served by a group of world-class doctors and dentists, bringing great protection to the health of people living in Hong Kong.
4. Our healthcare system consistently fares well by international standards and is recognised for its credibility and efficiency. Our achievements have been consistently acknowledged internationally through a series of health indicators, such as life expectancy, and infant mortality. Our overall infant mortality rate was below two deaths per thousand live births in 2016, and life expectancies were 81.3 years for males and 87.3 years for females. The remarkable performance of these indicators hinges largely on our top-notch medical education as well as the dedication and professionalism of our healthcare professionals, who are the greatest assets in our healthcare system.
5. In the light of an increasing demand for healthcare services, the Hong Kong SAR Government has increased its recurrent expenditure on healthcare annually by an average of seven per cent over the past decade. The expenditure on public healthcare services will increase by 13.3 per cent compared with last year to HK$71.2 billion in 2018-19, which accounts for 17.5 per cent of the total government recurrent expenditure. We are also pressing ahead with the 10-year hospital development plan for which HK$200 billion has been earmarked.
6. The Government attaches great importance to the training of healthcare professionals. As announced in the 2018-19 Budget, we are considering to further increase the publicly-funded training places for doctors, dentists, nurses and relevant allied health professionals in the coming three years. We have set aside another sum of HK$300 billion as an initial provision to support the upgrading and increase of healthcare teaching facilities, together with the second 10-year hospital development plan and clinic facilities improvement in the Department of Health.
7. Local medical graduates are the predominant source of doctors serving in Hong Kong. There will be a total of over 2 000 local medical graduates in the coming five years. The Government will ensure that the Hospital Authority has adequate resources to employ all local medical graduates. Some additional HK$200 million will be allocated each year to enhance the healthcare professional training provided by the Hospital Authority, including clinical practicum, as well as specialist and higher training.
8. The annual MEC is an ideal platform for professional exchange in medical education as well as showcasing excellence in practice. This year, the theme of the MEC is “Cultivating Professionalism and Research in Medical Education” during which inspiring topics on professionalism, mediation and research in medical training would be discussed. In gist, the MEC is a testimony of the contribution of the Academy to the continuing development and advancement of specialty training of the medical profession. I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Academy for being a key partner of the Government in the areas of manpower planning, training and continuing professional development of medical professionals most valued by the Government. I look forward to our continuous discussions with the Academy and the Hospital Authority on measures to enhance the manpower planning and training of our specialist fraternity.
9. Last but not least, I trust that all of you would have a rewarding and constructive exchange at the MEC this year and I would also like to thank the Academy for bringing this valuable opportunity to us.
10. Thank you.