Billions being spent on care for elderly
Mark Peaker's letter ("Better care for elderly left to exist in misery", September 6 ) highlighted the challenges that we are facing in a fast ageing society.
The Hong Kong SAR government is fully aware of the problem and has been striving to improve support and outreach services to our needy senior citizens. The estimated expenditure on elderly care services in the social welfare policy area in 2013-14 amounts to HK$5.58 billion, 12 per cent up over last year.
Ageing in the community is the cherished wish of most elderly people. A wide range of subsidised community care services for our frail elderly citizens is provided through day care centres or the home and community care services teams across Hong Kong. We will continue to expand and enhance these services.
We rolled out the first phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly earlier this month.
By adopting a "money-follows-the-user" and user-oriented approach, the scheme will benefit some 1,200 eligible elderly during the trial period.
With the immense challenges posed by our rapidly ageing population, we aim to promote the well-being of the elderly by providing services that will enable them to remain members of the community for as long as possible.