Recently, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced the first “Blueprint for the Development of Chinese Medicine” (hereafter referred to simply as “Blueprint”). It outlines the future development vision and strategy of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, with five major areas as the framework, eight major goals as the lead, and 20 actions as the support. Following the announcement of the Blueprint and the recent operation of Hong Kong‘s first Chinese Medicine hospital, the industry believes that Chinese Medicine development in Hong Kong is entering a new phase of comprehensive, high-quality, and high-level development.
The Secretary for Medical and Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Lu Chongmao, said that Chinese medicine is a treasure of China‘s excellent traditional culture and an important component of the Hong Kong medical system. “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to actively work with the industry to promote the development of Chinese medicine, implement the various recommendations of the blueprint in an orderly manner, and provide comprehensive and high-quality Chinese medicine services to the public. At the same time, we will utilize Hong Kong‘s unique advantages of backing the motherland and connecting the world, helping the country to promote Chinese medicine to the world,” Lu Chongmao said.
Clarified positioning
The five main areas of the blueprint are respectively Chinese medicine services, Chinese medicine specialization, Chinese medicine development, culture inheritance, and going to the world; the eight main goals include optimizing excellent clinical services, building a cross-professional service system, leading the development of Chinese medicine specialization, improving the quality level of Chinese medicine, helping to establish international standards for Chinese medicine, driving innovation in the scientific research industry, promoting the Chinese medicine culture, and helping Chinese medicine to “go out”; the 20 actions include establishing the positioning of Chinese medicine services in the healthcare system, upgrading Chinese medicine services through technology empowerment, and building a more comprehensive Chinese medicine talent cultivation system, etc.
In the blueprint, optimizing Chinese medicine clinical services is listed as the primary objective, clarifying the position of Chinese medicine in the Hong Kong healthcare system and highlighting its areas of strength. The specific actions include research and development of a list of beneficial diseases for which Chinese medicine has significant therapeutic effects, development of clinical guidelines with Chinese medicine characteristics, support for clinical big data research in Chinese and Western medicine, etc.
“Currently, we have established 23 dominant diseases of Chinese medicine that cover stroke recovery, knee arthritis, chronic pain, and more. In the future, we will gradually increase the number of dominant diseases, allowing citizens to easily access targeted Chinese medicine services in their communities,” said Zhong Zhihao, Commissioner for Chinese Medicine Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
Li Yingsheng, Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine and Chinese Medicine Industry Joint General Assembly, believes that the announcement of the blueprint establishes a program for the long-term development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. Next, we must strengthen the investment of resources, especially emphasizing the perfection of talent training and regulatory systems, and actively cooperate with the country‘s Chinese medicine development strategy to utilize Hong Kong’s unique advantages. Only then can we fully enhance the competitiveness of the Chinese medicine industry.
Service base
For a long time, Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong has had a deep private base and market demand. Data show that there are currently more than 10,000 Chinese doctors in Hong Kong, of whom more than 90 percent practice in the private market, with more than 16 million visits to Chinese medicine annually, and related expenses exceeding HK $ 1.2 billion. The industry believes that the release of the blueprint will drive the full development of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong, providing more comprehensive and high-quality Chinese medicine services to the public.
The blueprint proposes to strengthen the role of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong‘s primary care. In the future, Hong Kong will further perfect the primary care Chinese medicine service network, promoting deep integration of Chinese medicine into the primary care system. Zhong Zhihao said that Hong Kong will establish a healthy cross-professional collaboration system for Chinese medicine services, develop clear clinical guidelines and referral processes, deepen the cooperative interactions between Chinese medicine and Western medicine, rehabilitation therapists and other professionals, achieve resource sharing and seamless connectivity between different healthcare institutions, promote full integration of Chinese medicine into the healthcare system and cross-institutional collaboration, providing integrated and diverse medical services to patients.
The first Chinese medicine hospital in Hong Kong, which has recently been put into operation, provides more comprehensive and systematic Chinese medicine services to the public. Bian Zhaoxiang, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Hospital, revealed that since the service was introduced in stages starting on December 11, the operation of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Hospital has been smooth, with patient appointments surging. The hospital currently provides an average of about 200 places per day, with government-funded outpatient places in general departments continuing to overflow, and the services of the six major branches of Chinese medicine, including internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, osteopathy and acupuncture, are also nearly 90% full. To meet demand, outpatient places have been increased by 30%, and will continue to be adjusted according to clinical needs in the future.
Leveraging Advantages
Chinese medicine is an important component of Hong Kong‘s medical system. The HKSAR Government has been continuously promoting the development of Chinese medicine over the years in areas such as talent development, service promotion, industry norms and standard construction. Lu Chongmao said that Hong Kong has the advantages of an internationalized medical system, regulatory system, standard establishment and clinical research. “The blueprint establishment is coordinated with the overall development guidelines for Chinese medicine in the country. It also fully considers the advantages of Hong Kong‘s ‘one country, two systems’ and Chinese medicine system. It is expected to promote Hong Kong‘s better participation in the development of high-altitude Chinese medicine sites in the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Bay Area and the high-quality development of Chinese medicine in the country,” he said.
In terms of leading the development of the Chinese medicine profession, the blueprint proposes to improve the talent cultivation system, optimize the continuous training mechanism in Chinese medicine, and improve clinical training in practice, among other things, to promote the overall improvement of the level of Chinese medicine profession.
Regarding the development of Chinese medicine, the blueprint is to clearly and comprehensively implement the quality management norms for Chinese medicine production, improve the quality level of Chinese medicine, and rely on the HKSAR Government‘s Chinese Medicine Testing Center to promote standard research and actively participate in establishing international standards for Chinese medicine.
The blueprint also proposes to fully utilize the advantages of Hong Kong‘s “super contact” to help Chinese medicine “go out”, including promoting Hong Kong’s Chinese medicine service model globally, promoting the international application of Chinese medicine standards and detection technologies, hosting international Chinese medicine conferences or exhibitions, deepening international cooperation, etc.
“The announcement of the blueprint marks a new milestone in the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. The blueprint proposes a number of forward-looking measures and visions that will greatly help to drive the full-scale, high-quality and high-level development of Chinese medicine,” said Hu Liang Zihui, Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Management Committee. (Reporter Wang Lingxi)