'Healthcare reform needs a better informed public'
Updated: 2008-06-13 07:33
By Louise Ho(HK Edition)
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Most Hong Kong people are not clear about medical reform proposals laid out by the governments, according to a recent survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
In March, the government invited feedback on six proposals on healthcare financing and launched the first round of public consultation which ends today.
Commissioned by legislator representing the medical sector Kwok Ka-ki, the HKU has interviewed 1,015 working adults in May.
The survey has found that 78 percent of the respondents were not familiar with the proposals.
Only less than 10 percent of the respondents can tell the name or details of at least one proposal.
Sixty percent wanted the government to use the HK$50 billion set aside to kick-start the reform to improve medical services right now before a consensus is reached over the proposals.
"The survey results indicate failure in the government's promotional efforts," Kwok noted.
TV commercials on the consultation mention nothing about the proposals, but instead they show actors engage in sports activities, he said.
The government should come up with more informative commercials in the second round of the consultation, he suggested.
The pros and cons and the costs of each proposal should be made the focus, he added.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the majority of views gathered in the first round expressed that there is insufficient information to decide which is the best proposal, though some people have made suggestions to the government.
He stressed that members of the public should focus on the quality of medical services that they can get with medical insurance, rather than the premiums that they would have to pay.
(HK Edition 06/13/2008 page1)