The collaboration between Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the medical field is entering a new era, said Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, at the Second Distinguished Lecture of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) held in Shenzhen on Friday.
The homogeneity and integration of medical services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) represents the general trend, said Leung, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), in a keynote speech.
“Shenzhen has always been a good neighbor, brother and partner of Hong Kong,” Leung said, adding that Hong Kong cannot do without Shenzhen in being more proactive integrating into national development, while Hong Kong can be Shenzhen’s “super liaison” in promoting international exchanges.
“In the new era, Shenzhen and Hong Kong can fully interact and draw lessons from each other. Hong Kong and Shenzhen are like two metals, which can be forged into a new alloy to serve the whole country and the world,” he stated.
According to Leung, Shenzhen and Hong Kong should have a mechanism to promote efficient interaction in the medical field. Meanwhile, the two cities should have an efficient north-south interaction in terms of talents, logistics, capital and information flows.
Leung believed that the establishment of HKU-SZH was an important breakthrough in public medical services and the mainland’s medical system reform, and the hospital has gained invaluable experience in various medical reforms over the past decade.
Medical cooperation in the GBA continued to deepen in recent years, as evidenced by a medical connect that allows medicines already available on the Hong Kong and Macao markets to be used in Shenzhen, as well as the awarding of the senior professional title to Hong Kong doctors in Shenzhen.
Moreover, medical procedures for patients from Hong Kong and Macao seeking treatment in Shenzhen have been simplified, and medical records and payment systems between Shenzhen and Hong Kong have been linked.
In October 2015, HKU-SZH became the only hospital on the mainland for Hong Kong’s elderly health care voucher scheme, benefiting Hong Kong’s senior citizens and breaking down the settlement barrier between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
In November 2020, the Hong Kong SAR Government and HKU-SZH jointly launched a special support scheme to provide subsidized follow-up consultations for Hong Kong chronic disease patients living in Guangdong Province, allowing medical records from Shenzhen and Hong Kong to be linked.