HONG KONG has a high-quality health-care system supported by a highly professional team of workers. Hong Kong’s Domestic Health Accounts (DHA) show total health expenditure increased from 3.6 percent to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product from 1989-90 to 2012-13. Over the same period, public health spending HK$53.4 billion, or US$6.90 billion, in 2012-13, or 2.6 percent of GDP) rose from 39 percent to 48 percent of total health expenditure.

Primary care is the first step in the health-care process. It covers a wide range of public services, including health promotion and disease prevention, general outpatient services and special health services for people in specific age groups who do not require immediate hospital attention.

Clinics

Primary care services are mainly provided by the private sector. The Hospital Authority operates 73 general outpatient clinics/community health centers that are targeted at serving the elderly, low-income families and chronic disease patients.

Family health

The Department of Health provides health promotion and disease prevention services through its 31 maternal and child health centers and three women’s health centers for children up to 5 years of age and women aged 64 or below.

Student health

Health screening and individual counseling are available to primary and secondary school students through the department’s 12 student health service centers and three special assessment centers.

Elderly health

The department’s 18 elderly health centers and 18 visiting health teams provide primary health care to the elderly, improve their ability to care for themselves, and encourage healthy living and their family’s support.

Community health

Community health-care services aim to reduce reliance on inpatient services and help patients recover in the community. In 2015, the Hospital Authority conducted 1.99 million home visits and outreach care services, including those for elderly and mental patients.

Dental health

Eleven government dental clinics provide the public with emergency services in pain relief and tooth extraction, while seven public hospitals offer specialist oral

health-care services to patients with special oral healthcare needs. The department also monitors the level of fluoridation in water supplied to the public to reduce dental decay.