Fourth-term Commission on Poverty convenes fifth meeting (with photos)

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr John Lee, chaired the fifth meeting of the fourth-term Commission on Poverty (CoP) held this afternoon (November 10).

     Members noted the implementation progress of various assistance programmes and the financial position of the Community Care Fund, as well as the evaluation report by the Home Affairs Department on the effectiveness of the Phase III Programme of Subsidy for Owners' Corporations of Old Buildings.

     In addition, the CoP approved the proposed annual indicative budgets for 2022-23 for the First Phase Programme of Medical Assistance Programmes ($1,397.55 million), the Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders) programme ($289.8 million) and the Subsidy for Eligible Patients of the Hospital Authority to Purchase Specified Implantable Medical Devices for Interventional Procedures programme ($81.9 million).

     The CoP was also briefed on the poverty statistics and analysis for 2020 produced jointly by the Office of the Government Economist and the Census and Statistics Department. The CoP discussed the analysis and noted that the Government would publish the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2020" after the meeting. The Report has been uploaded to the CoP's dedicated website (www.povertyrelief.gov.hk).