Policy Address

Strengthen Primary Healthcare Services

230. The Government will enhance community healthcare and disease prevention by:

1. Introduce a bill within next year for the empowerment of the Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission), devising city-wide standards for primary healthcare services, and developing multidisciplinary service networks.

2. Enhance the HA's Family Medicine Out-patient preventive screening and care services, increase their service capacity and regularise their current extended service hours progressively.

3. Launch the Chronic Disease Co-care Platform on a pilot basis to conduct hepatitis B screening and promote the community drug formulary and community pharmacy programme, to enhance the management of chronic diseases.

4. Prepare to integrate the services of Elderly Health Centres into the district health network in phases and expand the services of three District Health Centre Expresses, to expedite the establishment of District Health Centres (DHCs) across all 18 districts in Hong Kong.

5. Bolster public and subsidised dental services by enhancing oral health education, oral hygiene instructions and risk assessments in the community through DHCs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).