在中医住院服务方面，香港首家中医医院的建设正密锣紧鼓地进行，预计将于明年、2025年年底落成启用。香港中医医院将以中医为主的方式为市民提供更全面的第二及第三层医疗服务，并将成为与内地，特别是大湾区，以及国际在中医医疗服务、科研发展及人才培育等方面的重要合作平台、“粤港澳大湾区中医医疗联合体和中医医院集群”的重要一员。The Director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Department of Health, Luk Cheong-mau, stated that in order to promote the standardization and internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine, Hong Kong aims to become the international bridgehead for traditional Chinese medicine.
According to the app of China Fortune, at the 6th Greater Bay Area Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance and Innovation Development Conference, Luk Cheong-mau, Director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Department of Health, mentioned that in the past year, there have been many new developments in traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. Under the medical system where pure traditional Chinese medicine and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine coexist in Hong Kong, the advantages of collaboration between traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese and Western medicine are fully exerted. At the same time, the permanent building of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Testing Center will be put into service in stages starting from the end of 2025. The testing center will pool resources and work together with mainland traditional Chinese medicine institutions to establish internationally recognized quality standards for Chinese herbal products, in order to promote the standardization and internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine and develop Hong Kong into an international bridgehead for traditional Chinese medicine.
The Hong Kong government has currently set up traditional Chinese medicine clinics and teaching and research centers in all 18 districts, providing government-funded traditional Chinese medicine outpatient services to the public. The collaboration between traditional Chinese and Western medicine has also seen a breakthrough in development, with the number of public hospitals participating in traditional Chinese and Western medicine collaboration increasing from eight to 26. The number of designated service points has also increased from eight to 53, providing services to selected diseases, including stroke, musculoskeletal pain disorders, palliative treatment for cancer, and inpatient cancer treatment.
In terms of traditional Chinese medicine inpatient services, the construction of Hong Kong's first traditional Chinese medicine hospital is progressing rapidly, with completion and commissioning expected by the end of next year, 2025. The Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Hospital will primarily provide more comprehensive second and third-tier medical services to the public in a traditional Chinese medicine-focused manner, and will become an important cooperation platform in traditional Chinese medicine medical services, scientific research and talent cultivation with the mainland, especially the Greater Bay Area, and international partners, as a key member of the South China Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trials Center.
In March of this year, the Hong Kong Department of Health's Government Chinese Medicine Testing Center officially launched the website of the "Digital Chinese Medicine Specimen Gallery", open for use by the public, industry, and international research institutions. This marks an important step forward for the Hong Kong government in promoting innovation in the application of traditional Chinese medicine data resources and in advancing the inheritance and innovation development of traditional Chinese medicine.
The Hong Kong government is establishing the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trials Center in the Hong Kong Park of the HKSAR Deep Bay Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, making good use of the development positioning of the HKSAR for science and technology innovation and institutional innovation, as well as related cross-border facilitation measures. This initiative aims to encourage enterprises and institutions to conduct clinical trials, accelerate the transformation of research results, promote integrated development, leverage the advantages of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, and jointly build a highland of biomedical research and innovation.
On the other hand, Hong Kong will explore the use of big data to promote international research cooperation on interactions between traditional Chinese and Western medicines, uncover more clinically relevant evidence, and advance the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine.
At the top-level design of traditional Chinese medicine development, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Commissioner of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has officially taken office, responsible for comprehensively coordinating the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong at the policy level. One of the Commissioner's important tasks is to work together with the traditional Chinese medicine industry to formulate the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint", to formulate strategies and plans for the overall development and long-term planning of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong, develop Hong Kong into an international gateway for traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, and further strengthen Hong Kong's exchange and cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine with the Mainland and international institutions, enabling Hong Kong to better integrate into the development of the south China greater bay area concept.
