bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Ella Lee

Gary Cheung

About 470,000 elderly people will have to  pay in part for vaccinations from private doctors against seasonal flu and pneumococcal infections under a deal  sealed yesterday. 
Permanent Secretary for Food and Health Sandra Lee Suk-yee met private doctors' representatives to discuss the vaccination programme under which  890,000 people aged  65 or above will be able to receive vaccinations against the  illnesses.
Hong Kong Medical Association president, Tse Hung-hing,  and  Hong Kong Doctors' Union president, Henry Yeung Chiu-fat,  said the government would reimburse doctors HK$130 for each seasonal flu vaccination - HK$80 for the vaccine and a HK$50 injection fee. 
For pneumococcal vaccines, the reimbursement would be HK$190. 
Patients will have to pay the difference between what the government is reimbursing  doctors and what the doctors  charge.
The average market prices for seasonal flu shots and pneumococcal vaccines are about HK$200 and HK$300,  so patients will have to pay an extra HK$70 for the first and HK$110 for the second. 
The  programmes  begin in October.  Participating doctors must enrol  and use the official electronic system.
Dr Yeung said the government would take care of the vaccination for 420,000 elderly people, including public patients and residents of homes for the elderly.  Private doctors would take care of the remaining 470,000.  
'The government  will administer the two vaccines together. We also encourage private doctors to do so and charge patients less because it  will cut the time,' he said.
Dr Yeung said health officials had tried to convince private doctors not to charge patients extra for the two vaccinations and the swine flu vaccination later in the year, but 'we rejected that at the time because we don't want to see the government interfere in the free market'.
Dr Tse said the Medical Association  would appeal to its members not to set a high price.
The meeting, however, did not touch on the inoculation against  swine flu, which will also be made available to the elderly and three other high-risk groups -  children aged between six months and six years, chronically ill patients and health care workers.
It is understood that the government will also allow doctors to set their prices for the swine flu vaccination for two million people. But there are concerns high prices will discourage people from getting the shots.
Hospital Authority chairman Anthony Wu Ting-yuk said  co-operation between public hospitals and private doctors was necessary.
'The most crucial thing is that the fees charged by private doctors should be reasonable,' he said.
 In November last year, the government paid doctors HK$80 for  seasonal flu shots administered under a programme launched in November to vaccinate 300,000 children.  
The government is ready to mobilise 'back-up' forces to administer swine flu vaccines in case  charges by private doctors discourage people.  These include the Auxiliary Medical Service,  St John Ambulance,  the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals,  Po Leung Kuk  and medical or nursing students.



Most elderly expected to contribute to cost of inoculations