Tag Archives: China

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:      The Hong Kong Observatory has issued the Very Hot Weather Warning.      To prevent heat stroke, avoid pro… read more

     Police are investigating an attempted murder and attempted suicide case in Tuen Mun this morning (June 26) and arrested a 43-year-old man.      At 6.16 am, Police received a report saying that t… read more

     The ‘​’Anti-drug Info Zone: Stride Ahead Into A Drug-free Future’​’ Roving Exhibition (Anti-drug Roving Exhibition) was officially launched at its first stop at Central Market today (June 26). This Anti-drug Roving Exhibition aims to allow the public to properly understand the adverse effects caused by drugs through interactive exhibits.
      
     Officiating at the opening ceremony of the Anti-drug Roving Exhibition, the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, said that today is World Drug Day, and this year also marks the 185th anniversary of the Destruction of Opium at Humen event. In the past, anti-drug pioneer Lin Zexu broke new ground in the anti-drug efforts of China and the world by destroying opium to save our country. No matter whether it is opium in the past, or emerging new drugs of the present, their harmful effects are well documented in history. Anti-drug work has always been an arduous and important mission.  
      
     In addition, speaking at the same opening ceremony, the Chairman of Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN), Dr Donald Li, said that drugs would bring nothing good, only harm to society. It is never easy for drug abusers to beat their addiction. Members of the public will ruin their prospects if they take part in criminal offences including drug trafficking, possession of drugs, etc. He added that ACAN will have been established for 60 years by next year. The committee will keep making efforts to safeguard people’s health and fight against drugs with the community.
      
     The Anti-drug Roving Exhibition is co-organised by the Narcotics Division (ND) of the Security Bureau and ACAN, and is designed with the theme of interstellar space. Drugs are portrayed in the exhibition as aliens that should be defeated. This visual representation helps present the adverse effects caused by drugs on one’s mind and body in a vivid manner. And by seeing the aliens, everyone will be strongly reminded again to stay away from drugs at all times, and the dire consequences of committing drug crimes.
      
     Including the elements of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and multimedia, the Anti-drug Roving Exhibition is divided into different theme zones with games, digital exhibition panels and photo booths to share anti-drug knowledge with visitors, and provide them with information about criminal liability for drug offences, how to seek help and so on. Anti-drug videos, animations and leaflets will also be available at the Anti-drug Roving Exhibition to provide visitors with precise information about resisting drugs and seeking help.
      
     The first stop of the Anti-drug Roving Exhibition is open to the public free of charge for five days from today until June 30 (from 10am to 8pm) at the Event Space, 1/F, Central Market. After the first stop, the Anti-drug Roving Exhibition will be held at the Hong Kong Book Fair (Booth 3C-A32, Children’s Paradise), shopping malls in different districts and tertiary institutes by the end of March next year. For more details of the Anti-drug Roving Exhibition, please visit the dedicated webpage on the ND’s website (www.nd.gov.hk/en/rovingexhibition.html).
      
     Moreover, an anti-drug TV programme named “Sidewalk Scientist On Narcotics”, which was commissioned by the ND and ACAN, will be broadcast on TVB Jade at 9.30pm on June 29 (Saturday). The programme analyses the harm caused by drugs from a scientific perspective in a straight-forward and easy-to-understand manner. The hosts invited a university lecturer in general education, a psychiatrist and a urologist to explain professionally how drugs can cause irreversible damage to one’s physical and mental health. As well, the Hong Kong Police Force and Hong Kong Customs also took part in the production of the programme, including a short drama performed by the clever and agile customs detector dogs, to remind the public that taking part in drug trafficking will bring lifelong regrets. Members of the public are welcome to watch the programme to better understand the misconceptions about drugs.
 

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      The Government announces today (June 26) that the tender closing date of a site for Multi-storey Buildings for Modern Industries (MSB) on Fuk Wang Street and Wang Lee Street, Yuen Long, New Territories (i.e. Yuen Long Town Lot No. 545) (the Yuen Long Lot) will be extended from the original date of June 28, 2024, to December 27, 2024.
 
      The Yuen Long Lot is the first MSB site rolled out by the Government to achieve the dual policy objectives of promoting the development of industries, as well as consolidating brownfield operations displaced by government projects in a land-efficient manner and assisting them in upgrading their operations. The successful tenderer has to hand over no less than 30 per cent of the maximum gross floor area (GFA) of the MSB(s) to the Government for renting out to brownfield operators affected by government development projects. To achieve these dual policy objectives, a two-envelope approach has been adopted for the tender of the Yuen Long Lot, unlike the approach for the disposal of conventional industrial sites. Tenderers have to submit respective envelopes containing the non-premium proposals (with a weighting of 70 per cent of the overall assessment) and premium proposals (with a weighting of 30 per cent of the overall assessment).
 
      A spokesperson for the Development Bureau said, “The industry, including some prospective tenderers, expressed to the Government that they would need more time to formulate relevant proposals, and requested that the Government consider extending the tender period. The Development Bureau decided to extend the tender period, having considered various factors as follows –
 

• The non-premium proposals account for a weighting as high as 70 per cent of the overall assessment, which reflects that the Government attaches great importance to the layout and quality of the MSB(s) to be built. Accordingly, potential tenderers must put more effort in formulating the non-premium proposals when submitting the tender, including coming up with the location of the 30 per cent GFA to be handed over to the Government. All these factors render the preparation of the tender more complex and time-consuming.

 

• Meanwhile, the Government announced at the end of last month that the community isolation facilities in Hung Shui Kiu would depart from the sites where they were situated, in order to release the sites for MSB use in accordance with the original planning intention (the Hung Shui Kiu Sites). The Hung Shui Kiu Sites have already been included in this year’s Land Sale Programme. As both the Hung Shui Kiu Sites and the Yuen Long Lot can be designated for modern logistics use, there have been views in the market that the Government should better arrange the disposal timeline of the two sites, so that the industry and investors can concurrently consider the strategic development of the two sites. The Government is now expediting the preparatory work for putting the Hung Shui Kiu Sites up for tender in September at the earliest. Details will be announced in due course. The extension of the tender closing date of the Yuen Long Lot to later this year is a decision made in response to the market’s call for room for considering these two sites in a comprehensive manner. 

     The spokesperson said, “The Government invited the industry to submit expressions of interest for the two sites in Yuen Long and Hung Shui Kiu last year. A total of 10 submissions were received from relevant stakeholders, including operators from the logistics sector and the vehicle maintenance sector, as well as developers. The response was positive.  Recently, the industry, including some prospective tenderers, has asked for an extension of the tender period, which indicates that the industry places great importance on the development of high-quality MSB(s) in the Northern Metropolis. The Government has acceded to this request, hoping that with concerted efforts from the Government and the industry, these two sites would be put to optimal use for realising the relevant policy objectives.”

     The Government announced on March 15, 2024 the open tender for the disposal of the Yuen Long Lot under the two-envelope approach. This Lot has an area of about 32 440 square metres and is designated for developing MSB(s) for logistics and/or vehicle servicing and maintenance purposes (excluding the portion to be handed over to the Government). The maximum GFA that may be attained is 161 500 sq m.  

     The Hung Shui Kiu Sites are located in Areas 39A and 39B of Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen, Yuen Long, New Territories, with an area of about 77 700 sq m and a maximum GFA of about 544 000 sq m. The Government will continue to adopt the two-envelope approach for the open tender of the Hung Shui Kiu Sites. The specific disposal schedule and related details will be announced in September at the earliest.  read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (June 26):
 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a group of hereditary neuromuscular disorders and that the common forms of SMA can be classified into SMA type 1, type 2 and type 3. Some patient groups have indicated that the Hospital Authority (HA) has imposed restrictions on the eligibility for the drugs “Nusinersen” and “Risdiplam”, which are for the treatment of SMA, under the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes (the Assistance Programmes), and that most of the SMA patients who can receive treatment under the Assistance Programmes are patients with SMA type 1 or type 2, resulting in a considerable number of other SMA patients being unable to apply for drug subsidies or undergo treatment for years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the number of persons who were granted subsidies under the Assistance Programmes for the purchase of (i) Nusinersen and (ii) Risdiplam and their average age in each of the past three years, and set out in the table below a breakdown by type of SMA suffered by persons who were granted subsidies (i.e. (I) type 1, (II) ‍type 2 and (III) type 3) and by age group (i.e. (a) minors and (b)‍ adults);
 
Year:               
 

Drug	Age group	Number of persons who were granted subsidies		Average age of persons who were granted subsidies
（i）	（a）	（I）
		（II）
		（III）
	（b）	（I）
		（II）
		（III）
（ii）	（a）	（I）
		（II）
		（III）
	（b）	（I）
		（II）
		（III）

 
(2) given that the age limit for applying for the Assistance Programmes is not set out on HA’s website, and in the reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on the 12th of this month, the Government indicated that having reviewed the findings of a drug treatment study on Risdiplam and made reference to overseas medication guidelines and international arrangements on disease management and on subsidies for the drug concerned, the HA Expert Panel on SMA considers it inappropriate to subsidise drug treatment for adult SMA patients aged above 25 to receive drug treatments, whether the Government knows if the Assistance Programmes have set the same age limit for applying for Nusinersen; if they have, of the reasons for that; if not, the reasons for the difference in the eligibility criteria for these two types of drugs; and
 
(3) as some patient groups have indicated that the Mainland currently has no age limit in its medication standards for SMA patients, who are provided with drug subsidies for treatment regardless of the type of SMA they suffer from, and that some Mainland experts have found through their actual treatment experience that Nusinersen and Risdiplam could have significant efficacy on patients with SMA type‍ 3, whether the Government knows the reasons for the discrepancy in the medication standards between HA and Mainland organisations?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Michael Tien is as follows:

(1) The Community Care Fund “Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders)” (CCF UED Programme) subsidises needy and eligible patients to purchase ultra-expensive drugs, including the two drugs for the treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), i.e. “Nusinersen” and “Risdiplam”. The average amount of subsidy approved for each application under the CCF UED Programme was about $2 million in 2023-24. 

     The number of approved applications in the past three years (from 2021-22 to 2023-24) who started using the above two drugs, i.e. “Nusinersen” and “Risdiplam” after submitting the first application for drug use under the CCF UED Programme is shown in the following table:
 

		2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Nusinersen
Patients aged 18 or below	pre-symptomatic SMA	0	2	1
	infantile-onset SMA	4	4	3
	childhood-onset SMA	9	12	9
Patientsaged over 18	pre-symptomatic SMA	0	0	0
	infantile-onset SMA	0	0	0
	childhood-onset SMA	0	0	0
Total (mean age of the patients at the start of the treatment: 6)		13	18	13
Risdiplam (Note)
Patients aged 18 or below	pre-symptomatic SMA	–	0	0
	infantile-onset SMA	–	0	1
	childhood-onset SMA	–	0	2
Patientsaged over 18	pre-symptomatic SMA	–	0	0
	infantile-onset SMA	–	0	0
	childhood-onset SMA	–	0	4
Total (mean age of the patients at the start of the treatment: 17)		–	0	7

Note: Covered under the CCF UED Programme since December 2022.
 
(2) and (3) The HA strives to provide all patients with optimal care and treatments, and has all along been supporting patients with uncommon disorders (including those with SMA) on various fronts, including clinical diagnosis, multi-disciplinary care and rehabilitation services. In addition, the HA has set up independent expert panels to formulate treatment guidelines for individual uncommon disorders and to assess the clinical efficacy of drugs for individual patients.

     The most common forms of SMA can be classified as SMA Types I, II, and III, with SMA Type IV being less common. The classification of the types is based on the age of symptom onset and the highest motor milestone achieved. SMA Type I is the most common and severe form of SMA, with symptoms that are evident before 6 months of age. Without any treatment, the affected children cannot sit or stand unaided, and most of them succumb before the age of 2 due to respiratory failure. SMA Type II usually has symptom onset between 6 and 18 months of age. The affected children can sit without support but are unable to stand or walk unaided. Life expectancy is often reduced but most individuals live to reach adulthood. SMA Type III has symptom onset after 18 months of age up till adolescence. The affected children can sit, stand and walk on their own, but because of weak muscle strength, they walk limply. Their symptoms may deteriorate slowly to the point where they lose the ability to walk at adolescence, and most of them have a normal life expectancy.

     The HA reviews medication criteria and clinical treatment guidelines in accordance with the principle of evidence-based medical practice and with reference to the clinical and scientific evidence of the drugs as well as overseas drug administration arrangements. Under the prevailing mechanism, patients with pre-symptomatic, infantile-onset (Type I) and childhood-onset (Types II and III) SMA may use the drugs “Nusinersen” and “Risdiplam” if they meet specific clinical criteria and receive approval from the Expert Panel on SMA (the Expert Panel). Therefore, the current use of the above drugs in Hong Kong already includes patients with SMA who are pre-symptomatic, Types I, II and III. 

     The HA has been closely keeping in view the medication guidelines as well as arrangements on disease management and subsidies on the use of drugs for SMA patients in other places. The Expert Panel noted the findings of an international study published after adult patients with the disease had been treated with the drug “Nusinersen”. The Expert Panel considered that, medically, the relevant scientific data and clinical evidence of the drug in question can so far only prove that the treatment effect is more pronounced in affected infants and children if treatment is started at an early age, while the empirical evidence showing that the use of the drug can bring significant benefits to patients with SMA who are treated in adulthood is still limited. Having made reference to overseas guidelines, arrangements on disease management and on subsidies for the drug concerned among different places internationally, the Expert Panel considers that it is not appropriate to subsidise adult SMA patients to receive drug treatments through the CCF UED Programme at this stage. 

     In addition to drug treatments, the support provided by the HA to adult patients with SMA also includes multi-faceted holistic healthcare services, such as clinical diagnosis and assessment, surgery, interventional therapy, palliative care, and rehabilitation services. For instance, in respect of rehabilitation services, the HA provides support that encompasses the assessment of home and work environments, wheelchair fitting, and the temporary lending of assistive devices to enhance patients’ physical functionality and self-care abilities in the domestic setting, while alleviating the burden on family members or caregivers in taking care of patients.

     The HA’s Expert Panel will continue to closely monitor the development of drug administration and relevant clinical and scientific evidence on SMA in other places, and review the relevant treatment guidelines from time to time in accordance with the established mechanism, so as to ensure that clinical services and the use of drugs can keep pace with the latest development of medical technology and scientific evidence. The HA will also continue to adhere to the principles of prudent use of limited public resources while providing treatments to the greatest number of needy patients, and to provide subsidises through the CCF UED Programme in a timely manner to more SMA patients to whom drug treatments would show clinical efficacy. Meanwhile, the healthcare team specialising in the care of SMA patients will continue to optimise multi-disciplinary professional healthcare collaboration, so as to provide patients with comprehensive services, including drug and surgical treatments, palliative care and rehabilitation services. read more