Land allocation must meet Hong Kong's long-term health needs
Bian Zhaoxiang says our long-term needs will not be best met by rezoning land that could be used fora Chinese medicine teaching hospital
The chief executive should be commended for pledging to "attach importance to long-term planning and abandon the mindset of focusing on short-term needs" in his recent policy address. It is essential that officials grappling with the problem of land shortages adhere to this principle. Another core issue that requires a long-term approach is Hong Kong's ageing population and how to organise health services to meet the needs of this sector.
These two issues are linked because the provision of health services requires adequate space for hospitals and clinics, as well as research. In his policy address, Leung Chun-ying announced that a site would be reserved in Tseung Kwan O for a Chinese medicine hospital. This is a step in the right direction.
Baptist University, meanwhile, has been planning to establish a Chinese medicine teaching hospital. Both are urgently needed: one can provide Chinese medicine services to the public; the other can combine medical services, teaching and research. Further, nurturing talent and research are both essential for medical development, and a Chinese medicine teaching hospital would best serve these two functions.
A teaching hospital would provide students with more comprehensive training. Currently, they study on the mainland, where the knowledge they acquire is not entirely applicable to the Hong Kong clinical setting. Such a hospital would also serve as a platform for interdisciplinary research and the integration of Chinese and Western medicine.
Baptist University has been, for a long time, asking the government to grant it the former Lee Wai Lee campus site to set up such a facility. However, last year, the government proposed dividing the site, granting the northern portion to the university and rezoning the southern portion for residential use. This is a good illustration of the need for long-term planning to adequately meet the needs for land and health services.
It cannot be denied that housing is a pressing issue that arouses grave concerns in Hong Kong today, particularly with regard to low-income families. The university strongly supports a gradual increase in the number of residential sites.