Secretary for Health meets expert delegation of national chest pain centres (with photo)

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, met with an expert delegation led by Professor Ge Junbo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, today (January 29). The delegation comprising experts of various national chest pain centres are here to exchange views on the establishment of Hong Kong's first chest pain centre that will meet national accreditation standards.

     At the meeting, Professor Lo expressed his gratitude to the experts for visiting Hong Kong from different places in the Mainland to offer guidance and exchange views on national accreditation standards of chest pain centres. He introduced to the delegation the latest policy initiatives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government relating to the establishment of the chest pain centre and cross-boundary medical collaboration.

     Professor Lo said, "The HKSAR Government has all along been committed to enhancing public healthcare services, with a view to making optimal use of valuable healthcare resources for providing services that best suit the public. Among these, the Chief Executive put forward in the 2023 Policy Address the initiative to establish Hong Kong's first chest pain centre in Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) in 2025 in accordance with national accreditation standards. The initiative aims to further streamline the treatment protocols for patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases, thus shortening the treatment duration as much as possible, achieving better treatment results and boosting the survival rate. In addition, the HKSAR Government and the Hospital Authority (HA) are actively taking forward high-quality healthcare talent training and exchange programmes between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

     "Under the principle of 'complementarity and mutual benefits' and on the premise of benefitting the healthcare development of both the Mainland and Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government will continue to work together with various counterparts on the Mainland in reinforcing collaboration on healthcare service development with a view to levelling up the healthcare quality together."

     The Chairman of the China Chest Pain Centre Accreditation Committee, Professor Huo Yong, also joined the expert delegation. During the delegation's stay in Hong Kong, they will attend a chest pain centre forum in QMH to share national experiences in implementing standardised treatment protocols for high-risk acute chest pain such as acute myocardial infarction, and the national accreditation standards. They will conduct an inspection and a clinical demonstration in QMH to support the initiative of establishing a chest pain centre in Hong Kong and facilitate academic exchanges and collaboration.  Moreover, the delegation will visit Prince of Wales Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital to meet and have exchanges with the clinical healthcare staff.

     The Permanent Secretary for Health, Mr Thomas Chan, the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko, and other representatives of the Health Bureau and the HA also attended the meeting today.