The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, attended the 26th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health (the Advisory Committee) today (August 31). During the meeting, he joined the Committee members and representatives of the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB), the Education Bureau (EDB), the Department of Health (DH), the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the Hospital Authority (HA) to discuss the way forward in further boosting the mental health of the public during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Professor Lo said, "A saying of the World Health Organization goes, 'There is no health without mental health'. Mental health is one of the foci of the current-term Government, the Chief Executive also mentioned in his manifesto the need to strengthen community mental health services so as to leverage the resources of various sectors to improve the mental well-being of the society together.
"Over the past two years or so, the epidemic has placed a tremendous impact on the mental health of citizens. I thank the Advisory Committee for beating the odds and implementing multiple initiatives such as the 'Shall We Talk' mental health promotion and public educative initiative, the Pilot Scheme on New Service Protocol for Child and Adolescent with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Comorbidity, as well as the Mental Health Initiatives Funding Scheme, utilising various means to strengthen the mental health services in Hong Kong and raise public understanding and awareness towards mental health. We will continue to provide full support to the work of the Advisory Committee and work hand-in-hand with the HA and stakeholders of various sectors to further assist citizens in maintaining their mental health."
Established in December 2017, the Advisory Committee is chaired by Mr Wong Yan-lung, SC. Its non-official members are 25 individuals from the medical, social service and education sectors, a person in recovery, carers, a representative from the Equal Opportunities Commission, as well as lay persons who are concerned with mental health. Meanwhile, its official members comprise representatives from the Health Bureau (HHB), the LWB, the EDB, the DH, the SWD and the HA. The Advisory Committee advises the Government on mental health policies, including the adoption of a more integrated and comprehensive approach to tackle multi-faceted mental health issues in Hong Kong, assisting the Government in developing relevant policies, strategies and measures, as well as following up on and monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of the Mental Health Review Report with a view to enhancing mental health services in Hong Kong. The membership list of the Advisory Committee is set out on the webpage of the HHB: www.healthbureau.gov.hk/en/committees/acmh/membership.html.
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