https://www.scmp.com/rss/522288/feed The Department of Health, a prominent Hong Kong-based governmental body headquartered in Wan Chai, serves as the HKSAR Government’s health adviser. Established in 1939, its primary mission is to safeguard public health through comprehensive promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative services. Key activities include disease prevention and control, health advocacy, and extensive regulatory functions, notably overseeing pharmaceutical products and healthcare facilities. The Department aims... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words The government’s new Action Plan on Weight Management aims to build a “healthier and more vibrant city” and its cross-sector approach is commendable. However, the citywide plan seems to be heavily anchored on a single Body Mass Index (BMI) data point. This risks sending a narrow... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3347711/hong-kongs-weight-management-plan-bmi-should-be-one-data-point-among-many?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3347711/hong-kongs-weight-management-plan-bmi-should-be-one-data-point-among-many?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 03:30:08 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Self-regulation by a profession serving the public is fine, so long as it truly serves the public interest in practice. Otherwise it risks undermining public confidence. A case in point is the Medical Council of Hong Kong’s handling of public complaints. The Ombudsman has criticised its lengthy process, highlighting 11 cases that remained unresolved after more than a decade. The council is mostly made up of doctors. One case that caused a public outcry, an alleged medical blunder that left a boy... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3346870/medical-council-reform-must-prioritise-public-interest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3346870/medical-council-reform-must-prioritise-public-interest?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 22:45:08 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Influenza is proving a moving target for health authorities. Mutations of the virus and the prospect of cooler weather have combined to put doctors on heightened alert against the prolongation of the summer flu season. At this stage, it cannot be ruled out that summer and winter flu seasons will overlap. This is after an 11-month-old baby boy has become the second child flu death of the season, following that of a 13-year-old unvaccinated girl last month. These cases, the mutations and the risk... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3333199/hong-kong-must-redouble-vaccination-efforts-amid-threat-longer-flu-season?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3333199/hong-kong-must-redouble-vaccination-efforts-amid-threat-longer-flu-season?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:45:07 +0000 Dave Besseling Dave Besseling “An advanced test for AIDS, the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome, could be available in Hongkong by May,” reported the South China Morning Post on February 19, 1985. “American researchers have developed a commercial kit to detect the disease and hope to receive an official go-ahead to begin production this month. “The US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to license the test within the next two weeks, paving the way for its export abroad. The Australian Government has... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3324310/when-hong-kong-got-breakthrough-aids-tests-screen-blood-donors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3324310/when-hong-kong-got-breakthrough-aids-tests-screen-blood-donors?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:15:14 +0000 Oscar Liu Oscar Liu While the term “chikungunya” might have been unfamiliar to many in Hong Kong until the first imported case was reported in early August, news of the infection immediately brought me back to my own difficult and painful first encounter with the virus six years ago. Hong Kong has been seeing a growing number of imported cases of the mosquito-borne disease, with the latest one announced on Wednesday, bringing the year’s total so far to 12. The new case involved a 34-year-old man living in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3323403/searing-pain-fever-and-fear-hong-kong-reporters-chikungunya-ordeal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3323403/searing-pain-fever-and-fear-hong-kong-reporters-chikungunya-ordeal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 02:00:17 +0000 Timon Johnson Timon Johnson Hong Kong health authorities will launch a five-day enforcement operation on Monday to combat illegal smoking in public transport facilities. The Department of Health said on Friday that its Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office would take enforcement actions under operation “Laserflame”. “To protect public health, it is the established policy of the government to discourage smoking, contain the proliferation of tobacco use and protect the public from second-hand smoke,” the department said. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3322766/hong-kong-launch-5-day-crackdown-illegal-smoking-public-transport-facilities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3322766/hong-kong-launch-5-day-crackdown-illegal-smoking-public-transport-facilities?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 06:08:23 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press At least 600 employees of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving permanent termination notices in the wake of a recent court decision that protected some CDC employees from lay-offs but not others. The notices went out this week and many people have not yet received them, according to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents more than 2,000 dues-paying members at the CDC. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday did... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322581/least-600-cdc-employees-are-getting-final-termination-notices-union-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322581/least-600-cdc-employees-are-getting-final-termination-notices-union-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2025 23:06:40 +0000 Harvey Kong Harvey Kong Hong Kong tobacco control officers will be equipped with body cameras from Wednesday as they enforce the city’s smoking ban, with official data showing the number of penalty tickets issued last year has risen by almost one-third compared with 2023. Inspectors with the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office will wear the devices while performing their duties to document any unexpected incidents or conflicts, according to the Department of Health. “Starting tomorrow, tobacco and alcohol control... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3322415/hong-kong-tobacco-control-officers-use-body-cameras-when-enforcing-smoking-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3322415/hong-kong-tobacco-control-officers-use-body-cameras-when-enforcing-smoking-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 13:34:33 +0000 Leopold Chen Leopold Chen The risk of importing the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus into Hong Kong is expected to rise, according to a senior health official, who has identified the increasing global prevalence of the disease to be caused by climate change and residents’ frequent summer travel as factors. But Ronald Lam Man-kin, director of the Department of Health, on Sunday sought to reassure the public that the risk of local transmission would remain low, as long as proper disease control measures were in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3322123/risk-importing-chikungunya-hong-kong-expected-rise-health-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3322123/risk-importing-chikungunya-hong-kong-expected-rise-health-official?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Aug 2025 06:08:37 +0000 Lorraine Chiang Lorraine Chiang Homeless people in Hong Kong will have access to free and more affordable dental services starting next year under an expanded government health programme, authorities have said. From January 1, the community dental support programme under the Department of Health will be expanded to offer dental scaling services, root canal treatment and denture fittings, with homeless people to be included as beneficiaries. To qualify, homeless individuals must first be identified by social workers from one of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3321993/hong-kong-offer-free-low-cost-dental-services-citys-homeless-next-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3321993/hong-kong-offer-free-low-cost-dental-services-citys-homeless-next-year?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Aug 2025 08:19:30 +0000 Lynn Zhang Lynn Zhang Hong Kong customs has arrested two people and seized nearly 250 vials of suspected botulinum toxin for wrinkle treatments, including 20 in a parcel inspected at a border checkpoint. The Customs and Excise Department said on Friday that officers at the Shenzhen Bay control point conducted an X-ray inspection of a parcel declared as carrying body lotion last week and found 20 botulinum toxin injection vials suspected to contain Part 1 poisons, which are regulated under the law. Customs said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3319655/2-arrested-hong-kong-customs-seizes-249-vials-botulinum-toxin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3319655/2-arrested-hong-kong-customs-seizes-249-vials-botulinum-toxin?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jul 2025 13:55:50 +0000 Sammy Heung,Emily Hung Sammy Heung,Emily Hung Singaporean singer-songwriter JJ Lin shocked fans by revealing at the end of his world tour on Sunday that he was suffering from a “heart problem”. Lin, 44, also told concertgoers in Beijing that he feared for the future and sensed the countdown of his career. The Mandopop star performed two concerts at Hong Kong’s new Kai Tak Stadium in May as part of his 27-date “JJ20 Final Lap World Tour” and showed no signs of illness. The Post looks at the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3318183/singer-jj-lins-heart-problem-shocks-fans-how-common-such-illness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3318183/singer-jj-lins-heart-problem-shocks-fans-how-common-such-illness?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jul 2025 12:47:32 +0000 SCMP SCMP This article was first published on July 12, 2015. By Emily Tsang Alert raised over tap water as more lead samples found Fears are growing over the safety of water supplied to Hong Kong’s public housing after a contamination scare spread on Saturday (July 11, 2015) in a development which a top government official has described as “highly concerning’’. Just days after initial tests revealed excessive levels of lead in the water from the Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City, three more samples have... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3317631/safety-scare-over-hong-kong-public-housing-drinking-water-2015-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3317631/safety-scare-over-hong-kong-public-housing-drinking-water-2015-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jul 2025 03:15:06 +0000 Sammy Heung Sammy Heung Hong Kong experienced the hottest Xiaoshu on record on Tuesday, with the mercury at the Observatory hitting 34.3 degrees Celsius (93.7 Fahrenheit). But the hottest weather was still yet to come, the forecaster warned. The Post explains what Xiaoshu is and shares traditional Chinese remedies for coping with the heat. 1. What is Xiaoshu? Xiaoshu, the 11th of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunisolar calendar, means minor or moderate heat and signifies the onset of summer, but not in full force.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3317384/hong-kongs-hottest-xiaoshu-what-does-it-mean-and-how-can-you-cope?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3317384/hong-kongs-hottest-xiaoshu-what-does-it-mean-and-how-can-you-cope?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Jul 2025 08:44:22 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Hong Kong has good reason to aspire to its own internationally recognised regime for approving pharmaceutical drugs. Intense global demand for Covid-19 vaccines remains fresh in the memory. The city also happens to rank No 2, behind only New York, as a market for biomedical and pharmaceutical companies to raise capital. To realise this goal, developing independent clinical trial capacity and a regulatory framework comparable with the US Food and Drug Administration would go a long way. It would... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3316336/new-drug-approval-system-takes-hong-kong-closer-biomedical-hub-goal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3316336/new-drug-approval-system-takes-hong-kong-closer-biomedical-hub-goal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Jun 2025 22:45:08 +0000