Striving to improve people’s livelihood and caring for people’s needs
12 January 2020
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As an important partner of the Government in policy implementation and district administration, District Councils (DCs) serve as a bridge between the Government and the public, assisting in the formulation of policies which can better meet community needs.
Last Friday (10 January), I attended the Briefing on District Administration with eight Directors of Bureaux and Heads of Departments to give the new DC members an overview of the functions of DCs, district administration measures and the Government’s support for DCs. This was a positive interaction started afresh between the Government and DCs. During the briefing, 20 DC members raised questions on district issues concerning people’s livelihood and we tried to respond to them immediately. In the days to come, the Government will sincerely and humbly listen to the views of DC members to harness their collective wisdom and insights with a view to improving policy implementation and people’s livelihood.
As an advisory body on district affairs, DCs are responsible for advising the Government on district administration and promoting recreational and cultural activities as well as environmental improvements within the districts. Besides, DCs also participate in the management of some district facilities.
The Government will continue its exchanges with DCs. I hope that DC members will focus on livelihood issues and advise the Government on district affairs from a pragmatic perspective, giving full play to their bridging role and fostering the harmonious development of the districts.
Following the earlier announcement of providing land for transitional housing at nominal rent by a private developer (30 December 2019), we got another piece of good news last week. Last Friday (10 January), another developer announced the provision of land to community groups at nominal rent for the construction of about 2 000 transitional housing units, fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities. In other words, together with the 8 000 transitional housing units announced earlier, the Government has secured sufficient land to achieve its goal of providing a total of 10 000 such units within the next three years as laid down in the 2019 Policy Address. This fully manifests the power of the tripartite partnership of the community, the Government and the business sector, as well as the full support of various sectors in the implementation of initiatives beneficial to the public. Such partnership and support are the success of Hong Kong. I hope we will have more good news in the year so that more transitional housing units can be built to relieve social conflicts.
Hong Kong has entered the winter influenza season and the public are also very concerned about the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The Government, being fully prepared and highly vigilant, will take immediate action in response to the latest information and assessments. At the same time, the public should stay alert. In particular, those at increased risk of severe influenza, the elderly, children and chronic patients should receive influenza vaccination as early as possible.
The Lunar New Year is approaching. In previous years, general out-patient clinic (GOPC) service is only available in 14 districts during the Lunar New Year holidays. To provide convenience for people in need of GOPC service and relieve the pressure on the Accident and Emergency Departments of public hospitals, the Hospital Authority will extend the service to each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong (except the Islands District) this year.
Meanwhile, the public are encouraged to make good use of the services provided by private practitioners and private hospitals during the winter influenza season. Various doctors’ associations have appealed to private practitioners to open their clinics during long holidays and extend their daily consultation hours during the winter surge period.
To increase the overall influenza vaccination coverage rate, the 2019 Policy Address announced the stepping up of vaccination among school children, with the School Outreach Vaccination Pilot Programme (School Outreach (Free of Charge)) regularised and also expanded to cover kindergartens and child care centres on a pilot basis. Taking into account schools participating in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme School Outreach (Extra Charge Allowed), about 80% of all primary schools and some 70% of all kindergartens/kindergarten-cum-child care centres/child care centres in Hong Kong have arranged school outreach vaccination for their students.
Up to the end of December 2019, a total of over 1.19 million vaccine doses were administered to the public under various influenza vaccination programmes for this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 17%. The vaccination coverage rate of children aged 6 months to 12 years was 55%, and that of the elderly aged 65 years or above was 40%.
On promoting primary healthcare services, the Government is committed to setting up District Health Centres (DHCs) in all 18 districts progressively, providing government-subsidised primary healthcare services and support through medical-social collaboration and public-private partnership. The first DHC in Kwai Tsing District commenced operation in September 2019, with 8 115 attendances recorded in the first three months (up to the end of December).
Apart from the DHC in Kwai Tsing District, the Government is inviting tenders from non-public organisations to operate the DHCs in Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin, which are expected to commence operation in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Besides, the Government is pressing ahead with the setting up of DHCs in Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Southern District. Interim DHC Express of a smaller scale will be established in the remaining 11 districts. Such work helps lay a solid foundation for the establishment of a prevention-focused primary healthcare system in the long term.
Improving people’s livelihood has always been the focus of the Government’s policies and will continue to be the future direction of its work. Nothing about people’s livelihood is trivial. The Government will care for the needs of people in all aspects and attach utmost importance to their well-being.
