Month: May 2025

Secretary for Health attends various events at Hospital Authority Convention highlighting Hong Kong’s role as “super connector”  
     Professor Lo said, “Hong Kong enjoys the distinctive advantages of having strong support from the motherland and close connection with the world under ‘one country, two systems’. The HA Convention fully capitalises on Hong Kong’s international and professional advantages in the healthcare field in providing a broad platform for participants from the Mainland and overseas to exchange and share experiences in hospital management and healthcare services, and facilitate communication and networking between industry players from different parts of the world, demonstrating Hong Kong’s important role as a ‘super connector’.”
 
     At the opening ceremony, Professor Lo also witnessed the successful national accreditation of the Chest Pain Centre of Queen Mary Hospital, making it the first chest pain centre in Hong Kong established in accordance with the national accreditation standards while demonstrating national healthcare service standards to the international community. He said, “The establishment of a chest pain centre can improve the efficiency of diagnosis of acute chest pain and speed up the time for patients to receive cardiac surgery, thereby improving patient care, including lowering the death rate, shortening the length of hospitalisation and reducing the rate of hospital readmission. The adoption of the national accreditation standards by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will also facilitate integration into the overall national development by fully utilising Hong Kong’s advantage of having strong support from the motherland and close connection with the world, with a view to demonstrating the excellence of the national healthcare standards to the international community, and helping promote the development of the national accreditation standards of chest pain centre into an internationally recognised standard.”
 
     Over the course of the Convention, Professor Lo met with multiple delegations from the Mainland and overseas and attended various events, taking the opportunity to promote medical co-operation and exchanges between Hong Kong and other regions.
 
     Professor Lo subsequently met with the Director-General of the Health Commission of Guangdong Province, Mr Liu Liqun, and his delegation to explore the exchange of healthcare talent between the two places, and to exchange views on healthcare collaboration projects, such as the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme and the cross-boundary use of electronic health records.
 
     After the meeting, both sides attended the welcoming ceremony for the Mainland Healthcare Talents Visiting Programmes. Professor Lo is pleased to note that since the launch of the visiting programmes in 2022, 80 outstanding doctors and two batches of a total of about 170 nurses from the Mainland have come to the HA on exchange, while more than 25 specialists in organ transplantation, cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology, rare diseases and pathology have also been arranged by the HA to conduct exchanges at public hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. He said, “The Mainland Healthcare Talents Visiting Programmes have effectively facilitated bilateral on-site clinical training and exchanges between healthcare professionals of the two places and broadened their horizons through mutual learning, thereby complementing each other’s strengths in terms of healthcare personnel and clinical services, and enhancing the quality of healthcare services of both places.”
 
     Afterwards, Professor Lo and the Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, Mrs Christile Drulhe, jointly witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Intent between the HA and the National Conference of University Hospital General Managers (CNDG) of France, which formally establishes a strategic collaborative partnership between the two organisations in deepening mutual exchanges, promoting the joint development of hospital services and exchange of medical expertise. As a vital component of the French public healthcare system, the CNDG is covering 40 per cent of the public healthcare services in France. Its delegation shared the cutting-edge experience in green hospitals and hospital innovation at the HA Convention.
 
     Professor Lo will continue to meet with multiple delegations coming to Hong Kong to attend the HA Convention tomorrow.
Issued at HKT 19:48

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HKMC’s Annual Results Highlights for 2024 

HKPF and DPO jointly organise 9th Inter-departmental Cyber Security Drill to enhance ability of government departments to counter cyber attacks 
     Addressing the opening ceremony of the drill, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Chow Yat-ming, said that “The Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address”  announced the introduction of a “Three-tier Prevention Framework” to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts. In this connection, a counter-terrorism segment titled “Counter-Terrorism Information Security Awareness Challenge” and the “Cyber Defence (Defense UK spelling) Tournament”, were introduced for the first time this year, aiming to bolster the Government’s overall defense capabilities against cyber terrorism threats and enhance personnel’s ability to handle cybersecurity incidents.
 
     He pointed out that while the Government promotes digitalisation to improve administrative efficiency, it also faces increasingly severe cybersecurity challenges. All government departments must be well-prepared and strengthen inter-departmental collaboration to further prevent cyber incidents and enhance response capabilities, ensuring that Hong Kong continues to play an important and unique role within the national security framework, contributing to social stability and safeguarding national interests.
 
     Addressing the event, the Assistant Commissioner (Project Governance and Cybersecurity) of the DPO, Ms Candy Chan, said that with the continuous development of the digital economy, cybersecurity has become a critical cornerstone for driving efficient government operations and innovation in public services. She hoped that through this exercise, participants would gain hands-on experience in detecting threats, analysing intrusions, and responding attacks effectively, thereby accumulating valuable practical experience and mastering effective strategies to counter real-world cyber threats.
 
     The drill this year included representatives from 71 bureaux and departments, as well as industry experts from six professional and academic institutions. More than 280 personnel participated, setting new records in both scale and attendance.
 
     The counter-terrorism segment, “Counter-Terrorism Information Security Awareness Challenge” was co-ordinated with the support of the Information Security and Technology Application Working Group. It utilised a highly interactive real-time Q&A platform to raise information security awareness and improve decision-making capabilities in responding to cybersecurity threats among senior management and IT security officers across various bureaux and departments.
 
     In addition, the “Cyber Defence Tournament” was conducted in the form of a “blue teams versus red teams” approach, where participants formed “blue teams” to collectively respond to simulated cyber attacks launched by “red teams” composed of cybersecurity industry experts and academics in a virtual network environment.
 
     This drill also serves as a prelude to the second Hong Kong Cybersecurity Attack and Defence Drill which will be held in October this year. The second drill will be further expanded in scale, encompassing more government departments and public organisations. Through the Inter-departmental Cyber Security Drill, participating departments can strengthen their readiness and enhance their response capabilities, laying a solid foundation for the participation in the Hong Kong Cybersecurity Attack and Defence Drills.
 
     The Government will continue to implement various measures to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities in order to ensure all departments can effectively counter cyber attacks and uphold overall cybersecurity.
 
Issued at HKT 19:44

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LegCo to consider Air Passenger Departure Tax (Amendment) Bill 2025Issued at HKT 19:29

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Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens related to Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) LimitedIssued at HKT 17:20

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited relating to fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens, which have been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.

The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or emails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks’ websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or One-Time Password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).

Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the websites or login screens concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Crime Wing Information Centre of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

SWD reminds public to remain vigilant against phone scamsIssued at HKT 19:00

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DH’s Community Dental Support Programme provides subsidised dental services for underprivileged over all 18 districts in Hong Kong 
Service users of the CDSP must be a holder of a Hong Kong identity card, be enrolled in the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHealth), and be a current beneficiary or recipient of any of the following measures:
 Under the CDSP, each service user can apply for subsidised dental services once every 180 days. Subject to the assessment by the attending registered dentist, a service user will be provided with specified subsidised dental services, including:
 Each service user is required to pay an administration fee of $50 directly to the NGO for each tooth (teeth filling or teeth extraction services), that is, a maximum fee of $150 is required (treatment for a maximum of three teeth will be provided for every 180 days). If the service user receives IHCS (Frail Cases), EHCCS or HSS (Level 1 fee charge or co-payment category) of the SWD, or is eligible under the Medical Fee Waiver (full waiving) of the HA (including recipients of OALA aged 75 or above), the Government will subsidise the administration fee in full. While current beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme under the SWD may apply for the CDSP for the above-mentioned subsidised dental services, they can also make use of the dental grants under the CSSA to receive comprehensive dental services.

Interested and eligible persons can refer to the list of NGO dental clinics participating in the CDSP on the DH’s thematic webpage 
Through the eHealth app, service users can check their consultation records, including consultation date and treatment items. Later this year, relevant electronic oral health records will also be available through the e-Health app for service users to better understand and monitor their dental conditions.
 
The Government formulated the Oral Health Action Plan according to the development strategies and recommendations made by the Working Group on Oral Health and Dental Care in December 2024. The CDSP is an initiative that focuses on providing subsidised dental services to the underprivileged who have difficulties in accessing dental care.
 
For more information about the CDSP, please visit the DH’s CDSP webpageIssued at HKT 16:40