Middle-class families will be looked after, vows minister

Medical services will remain affordable to middle-class families under the government's financing proposal, the health minister said yesterday.

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok said the health-care financing options would be available for public discussion early next year.

Dr Chow said the administration would strive to ensure that the middle class could still afford a reasonably high standard of healthcare - one of three key aspects of the reform proposals.

'The other two aspects are how we can still look after the poor and chronic patients. Also, we must address the area of the increase in longevity of our citizens, as well as the improvement of our medical technology.'

Dr Chow, speaking after a ceremony at Queen's College for the Hong Kong Award for Young People, said he believed the bird flu scare would not delay the pace of healthcare reforms. The government discussion paper Building a Healthy Tomorrow, released in July, envisages a family medicine network catering for individual needs while cutting down on unnecessary hospital admissions.

It also calls for a leaner and more focused public hospital sector, better public-private sector co-operation, specialised centres of excellence for cutting-edge medicine and home-based care for elderly patients.

But the document did not address the financing issue, which Dr Chow admitted was one of the major public concerns.