Echo Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Take part in colorectal cancer screening and adopt healthy lifestyle
The Controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health, Dr Edwin Tsui, today (March 3) urged members of the public to support Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month by adopting a healthy lifestyle and undergoing regular screenings to prevent colorectal cancer.
“The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization has recognised March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month every year to highlight the importance of screening for colorectal cancer, as well as to promote healthy lifestyle habits to reduce a person’s risk of developing colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer locally and the second most common cause of cancer death. In 2022, there were 5 190 newly diagnosed cases, and colorectal cancer led to 2 270 deaths. It is important for the public to be more aware of cancer prevention,” he said.
The primary prevention of cancer is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, while screening is a tool for secondary prevention to detect and treat precancerous lesions or early-stage cancers before symptoms appear, thereby increasing the cure rate.
“The DH encourages all asymptomatic Hong Kong residents aged between 50 and 75 to join the Government-subsidised Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme (CRCSP) as early as possible and to undergo screening tests every two years in the private sector. Participants should first attend a medical consultation provided by an enrolled primary care doctor (PCD) and receive a Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) screening arranged by the PCD. If the test result is positive, the participant will be referred to an enrolled colonoscopy specialist to receive a colonoscopy examination subsidised by the Government. If the test result is negative, the participant is advised to repeat the screening two years later,” Dr Tsui said.
The CRCSP has been operating smoothly since its launch in 2016. Last year, there were around 86 000 new participants in the CRCSP, a record annual high since its launch. As of the end of 2024, the total number of eligible participants was approximately 510 000. A cumulative total of about 77 000 persons had positive FIT screening results, about 40 000 persons were diagnosed to have colorectal adenomas after colonoscopy examinations, and about 3 400 persons had colorectal cancer. Among the colorectal cancer cases diagnosed under the CRCSP, a preliminary analysis of around 2 400 cases has been done, and about 56 per cent of these cases were in earlier stages and therefore had a more favourable prognosis.
The CRCSP is heavily subsidised by the Government. As of the end of 2024, around 1 090 PCDs have enrolled in the CRCSP, covering about 2 070 locations, and about 97 per cent of these locations will not charge any additional payment for the consultation or the FIT screening. Around 260 colonoscopy specialists have also joined the CRCSP. The colonoscopy specialists can only charge participants a co-payment of no more than $1,000 for providing standard colonoscopy examination services. Currently, colonoscopy examination services are available at about 780 service locations, with over 70 per cent of these locations not charging any additional payment for colonoscopy and polyp removal.
“The DH released the latest Health Behaviour Survey this January, which revealed that unhealthy but modifiable practices are common among the Hong Kong population. For example, 14.8 per cent of the adult population performed an insufficient level of physical activity, 97.0 per cent of the public had an inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, and 2.7 per cent of the population (aged 15 or above) engaged in binge drinking at least monthly. These are important risk factors for developing common non-communicable diseases, including cancer. To prevent colorectal cancer, members of the public are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles and practices, including exercising regularly, eating two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables daily, reducing the consumption of red meat and processed meat, maintaining a healthy body weight, and avoiding smoking and alcohol,” Dr Tsui added.
At the same time, the Primary Healthcare Commission is actively promoting the Life Course Preventive Care Plan via District Health Centres (DHCs), DHC Expresses and family doctors. Based on the core principles of prevention-oriented and whole-person care, a personalised preventive care plan will be formulated to address the health needs of citizens across different life stages with reference to the latest evidence. Family doctors and primary healthcare professionals will collaborate to provide health advice and education on chronic disease and cancer screening, as well as healthy lifestyles according to personal factors, including recommendations on colorectal cancer screening for those aged 50 or above.
For more information on the CRCSP (including eligibility criteria and the list of PCDs), please visit the DH’s thematic websitewww.colonscreen.gov.hk, or call 3565 6288 during office hours.
Taxi fleets to commence service gradually and mark important milestone in taxi trade’s development
The Government today (March 3) announced that the five selected taxi fleet operators will soon commence service gradually, marking an important step to enhance taxi service quality and reform the taxi trade.
The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan,accompanied by the Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Liu Chun-san, and the Commissioner for Transport, Ms Angela Lee, attended the Taxi Fleet Launching Ceremony at the Transport Department (TD) Vehicle Examination Complex this morning. Other officiating guests were Legislative Council (LegCo) Member (Transport) Mr Frankie Yick; LegCo Member Dr Chan Han-pan; the Chairman of the LegCo Panel on Transport, Mr Chan Siu-hung; and the Deputy Chairman of the LegCo Panel on Transport, Mr Yiu Pak-leung.
Addressing the Launching Ceremony, Ms Chan said that the Taxi Fleet Launching Ceremony marked an important milestone of the taxi trade’s development in Hong Kong. The Government introduced a series of measures to enhance taxi services in the past two years, and the introduction of a new taxi fleet regime was one of the key initiatives. Under the TD’s regulatory regime, operators form fleets with professional management and good use of technologies to provide quality service for passengers, bringing a new look to the taxi trade.
She said that, following years of development and challenges, the taxi trade in Hong Kong can only make continuous improvement in the taxi service level to meet the expectations of the public and tourists by keeping up with the times with proactive and innovative reforms.She said she looks forward to the taxi fleets playing a leading role, injecting new impetus into the taxi trade and providing more quality services.
At the Launching Ceremony, representatives of the five selected operators (in alphabetical order of company name), namely Big Boss Taxi Company Limited, CMG Fleet Management Limited, Sino Development (International) Company Limited, SynCab Service Limited and Tai Wo Management Limited, introduced the features and highlights of their fleets respectively, including the vehicle models to be deployed, their body designs and logos, compartment facilities and safety devices.
The selected operators comprise three urban fleets and two mixed fleets, with a size ranging from 300 to 1000 taxis each, providing a total of over 3500 taxis, which account for nearly 20 per cent of the total number of taxis in Hong Kong. The selected operators will deploy about 1500 new vehicles as fleet taxis at the time of service commencement. They will provide electric taxis, wheelchair-accessible taxis and premium taxis for passengers to promote green transport and cater for the diverse travel needs of individuals.
To ensure service quality, all fleets must provide online hailing services, customer service hotlines and different electronic communication channels for passengers to select appropriate vehicle types based on their needs, and rate driver services. In addition, all fleet taxis will provide multiple electronic payment means, while safety devices and driver monitoring systems will be equipped for passengers’ convenience and driving safety. For passengers’ easy identification, all fleet taxis are required to display a fleet taxi certificate and a fleet taxi plate.
The TD issued conditional grants of the Taxi Fleet Licence to five selected operators in end-July 2024, and they are required to complete the gearing-up work and commence service within one year. The first fleet is expected to start service by end-March 2025 the earliest. The TD will monitor the fleet’s operations and continue to actively promote the remaining fleets to commence operations as soon as possible.
