Health
Chinese Medicine
Chinese medicine is regulated under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, which requires any person engaged in the retail or wholesale of Chinese herbal medicine or the manufacture or wholesale of proprietary Chinese medicine to obtain a licence. The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong is the statutory body responsible for devising and implementing regulatory measures for Chinese medicine. All proprietary Chinese medicine must be registered before they can be sold, imported or possessed in Hong Kong. As a transitional arrangement, proprietary Chinese medicine manufactured or offered for sale on 1 March 1999 is eligible for a transitional registration status upon submission of acceptable basic test reports. By the end of 2016, there were 6,867 licensed Chinese medicine traders, including 16 holding the Certificate for Manufacturer; 7,498 proprietary Chinese medicines had obtained transitional registration status; and 912 had been issued with a 'Certificate of registration of proprietary Chinese medicine.
The department has released reference standards for 236 commonly used Chinese medicines since it launched the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica (HKCMM) Standards Project in 2002, aiming to ensure the safety and quality of common Chinese herbal medicine. The project is supported by local universities and overseas and Mainland experts. A pilot study on setting standards for Chinese medicinal decoction is under way.
As announced in the 2015 Policy Address, the government had accepted the Chinese Medicine Development Committee's recommendation to set up a testing centre for Chinese medicines, to be managed by the department. Before a permanent testing centre is ready, the department will set up a temporary centre which is expected to start operating in phases from 2017.
The department's Chinese Medicine Division, which is designated by the WHO as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine, focuses on helping the WHO formulate policies and strategies and setting regulatory standards for traditional medicine.
Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Pilot Programme
Following directions spelled out in the 2013 Policy Address, the Hospital Authority is conducting an Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Pilot Programme with the aims of using such medicine to maximise the outcome of patient care, gaining experience in the development of Chinese medicine inpatient services, and facilitating postgraduate Chinese medicine development and training. The pilot programme is operating in seven public hospitals: Tung Wah Hospital, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Tuen Mun Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital.
Human Reproductive Technology
Activities using human reproductive technology are regulated to ensure the procedures are conducted in a safe and informed manner, and to safeguard the welfare of children born through the technology. The Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance confines the application of human reproductive technology procedures to infertile married couples, regulates surrogacy arrangements and the use of embryos and gametes for research and other purposes, and prohibits commercial dealings in embryos or gametes and the use of donated
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