The new Primary Healthcare Blueprint provides a roadmap for improving healthcare in Hong Kong and addressing looming challenges. It draws on a strong body of evidence stretching back to 1978, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the importance of primary healthcare in achieving ‘Health for All’.1 Hong Kong is not alone in having an insufficient provision of primary care – this is the case in many places – but the Blueprint signals that things are about to change up. At the heart of the Blueprint is the concept of ‘a family doctor for all’ – meaning a doctor trained in family medicine who is the first point of contact with the healthcare system, and the co-ordinator of comprehensive continuing care. A major advocate for this approach has been Professor Cindy Lam Lo-kuen, Clinical Professor of the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, who sits on the governmentappointed Steering Committee on Primary Healthcare Development that produced the Blueprint. (The committee was established in 2017 by thenSecretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, who is now a faculty member in the School of Nursing.) Professor Lam’s research has shown that people with a FEATURE + Hong Kong has done a commendable job ensuring those who need access to medical care can receive it, whatever their means. But concentrating resources in hospital care has proven to be not only unsustainable due to an ageing population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, but also not ideal for overall public health, quality of care and health equity. There is an alternative: put more resources into primary healthcare – the most essential component of a resilient healthcare system – and make it accessible to all for improving population health. Last December, the government took a major leap towards that goal, after years of tentative, incremental measures. A Family Doctor for All: Hong Kong’s New Roadmap for Primary Care 26
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mzg4NDg0