More than 400 cancer patients are set to benefit from Hong Kong health authorities’ decision to subsidise a leukaemia drug, and will go from paying up to HK$500,000 (US$63,800) a year for treatment to forking out just HK$240. The Hospital Authority said on Wednesday that it began subsidising the medication, Dasatinib, in April, with the…
Hong Kong’s improving fiscal position has prompted a groundswell of calls for the government to offer more “sweeteners” in the coming budget, including a cross-party demand for more tax relief for the middle class, but economists have cautioned against such across-the-board measures. They were more supportive of targeted spending, a cause taken up in recent…
A government-subsidised screening and treatment programme set to launch next month is expected to identify about 23,000 hidden cases of chronic hepatitis B in Hong Kong, as part of a bigger plan to eliminate the public health threat within five years. Health authorities said on Monday that the “Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme” would cover people…
A Hong Kong pilot scheme to identify hidden cases of at-risk carers should be expanded to also cover other low-income families and subdivided flat tenants, a social worker and a district councillor have urged, as a new database to address the issue began operation. The first part of the government initiative began at 9am on…