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Press Release

Priority given to local children in Maternal and Child Health Centres

30 March 2016

The Department of Health (DH) today (March 30) announced that additional measures would be put in place to accord priority of child health services to local children in its Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) with effect from April 1.

Speaking at a press conference on the measures, the Assistant Director of Health (Family and Elderly Health Services), Dr Teresa Li, said, "In order to ensure that services to Eligible Persons (EPs) are not affected, a quota has been set for Non-eligible Persons (NEPs), that is, children who are not Hong Kong residents, at 120 new cases per month, with a range of two to seven per centre in the 31 MCHCs."

While all persons have to make prior appointment before visiting MCHCs for child health services and present valid identity documents for verification, they are now triaged so that NEPs can only book an appointment when there is spare service capacity and must pay NEPs' charges, which are set on a cost-recovery basis.

"The Government's policy is to accord priority to local children. NEPs can only utilise non-emergency public healthcare services when there is spare service capacity. The quota is set in consideration of a number of factors, including the number of births in Hong Kong, EP and NEP attendances in MCHCs and manpower arrangements. We will closely monitor the utilisation of services by NEPs and may adjust the quota or withhold new case bookings of NEPs if necessary," Dr Li added.

The DH always recommends children to receive immunisation in their usual place of residence for comprehensive protection against childhood infectious diseases. It is not recommended to receive vaccination during travel.

As of yesterday (March 29), a total of 47 508 attendances for child health services had been recorded in MCHCs in March, compared with 46 450 in February and 49 549 in January this year. Among them, 389 (0.82 per cent), 382 (0.82 per cent) and 398 (0.80 per cent) were NEPs respectively. Of note, as NEPs include all non-local children, and children attending for child health service do not necessarily receive vaccination, the NEPs attendance figures should not be regarded as equivalent to the attendance of Mainland children for vaccination.

Also speaking at the conference, the Assistant Director of Health (Drug), Ms Linda Woo, said, "We have been closely monitoring vaccine usage and, when necessary, will procure additional quantity from vaccine suppliers in accordance with established contractual agreements to ensure a stable and sufficient vaccine supply. At present, there is no vaccine shortage in the public sector."

In addition, the DH is closely communicating with medical professional bodies and vaccine suppliers to monitor the vaccination services and supply in the private sector. The DH will request the import of more vaccines when necessary.

Parents may refer to the pages of the DH's Family Health Service below for more information:



Last Revision Date : 30 Mar 2016