Hong Kong government considers making pilot dental scheme permanent, undersecretary says
The four-year scheme set up to serve those with intellectual disabilities stopped accepting new patients in February; it’s due to end in August
The Hong Kong government is considering turning a pilot scheme offering dental services for people with intellectual disabilities into a permanent service.
Undersecretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee reaffirmed the government’s general direction on Wednesday during a Legislative Council subcommittee meeting on dental care for the elderly and people with disabilities.
Chan’s remarks came amid concern after the Loving Smiles Service, a four-year pilot scheme which provides dental services to low-income people with intellectual disabilities, stopped accepting new cases in late February. The pilot is set to end in August.
The scheme, which received HK$20 million from the government’s Food and Health Bureau and was operated by the Special Care Dentistry Association, the Loving Smiles Foundation and Evangel Hospital, has served over 1,800 people since its launch in 2013.
“We are not dropping the scheme ... Pilot schemes often become a standing arrangement after they end,” Chan said. “We agree that such a service should carry on.”
