422 History
general out-patient clinics, some of which were run by voluntary agencies. The Government continued to expand the healthcare infrastructure during the 1950s and 1960s to cater to the needs of the ever growing population.
The Government's commitment to safeguarding public health and to providing medical care and facilities for everyone in Hong Kong, particularly those relying on subsidised medical attention, was first articulated in policy papers published in 1964 and 1974. The goals, which included subsidising more healthcare agencies, were largely achieved.
The Government's healthcare policy has since been recognised as one that aims to 'ensure that no one should be denied adequate medical treatment because of lack of means'. Another major step was taken in 1990 with the setting up of the Hospital Authority (HA) based on the recommendations of a consultancy report entitled 'The Delivery of Medical Services in Hospitals', commonly known as the 'Scott Report'. The HA's task was to run all public hospitals and to provide a range of heavily subsidised medical services. Just as importantly, it was tasked with upholding the Government's policy of ensuring that no one was denied medical care due to lack of financial means. At the same time, the Department of Health (DH) evolved into a health advocate, focusing on promoting good health and preventing diseases from taking hold, while maintaining its position as the authority on health. and related regulatory matters.
In the wake of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, the Government took a series of measures to strengthen its public healthcare infrastructure, one of which was the establishment of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) under the DH in June 2004, to strengthen the surveillance system for detecting outbreaks of infectious diseases and to respond swiftly to them. The CHP works closely with the local community, the Mainland authorities, the World Health Organisation and others around the world to combat infectious diseases.
Due to ever increasing demand and reliance on subsidised public healthcare, the Government embarked on a series of healthcare reforms in the 1990s under the headings 'Towards Better Health' (the Rainbow Document) in 1993, 'Improving Hong Kong's Health Care System: Why and For Whom?' (the Harvard Report) in 1999, 'Lifelong Investment in Health' in 2000-01, to 'Building a Healthy Tomorrow' in 2005.
Building on experiences gained from those reforms, the Government put forward for public discussion this year a package of healthcare reform proposals, entitled 'Your Health, Your Life'.
A comprehensive system of labour legislation has been developed to provide for employees' benefits and protection, employees' compensation, occupational safety and health. Free employment services are provided to help job-seekers find work and employers to recruit staff. The Employees Retraining Board provides quality training and retraining courses and services to eligible people, in particular those who are unemployed to enhance their employability and meet the needs of employers and the Hong Kong economy.