Prudence exercised in drawing up health, welfare expenditure
The Government plans to spend $22.6 billion on health and $16.5 billion on welfare in recurrent expenditure in 1996-97, an increase of 4.4 and 14.7 per cent respectively compared with 1995-96.
The money will ensure that the Administration is in a position to meet its policy commitments as well as responding to the community's expectations for improved health and welfare services for the people of Hong Kong.
"The community's wish to see expanded services is clear and we are responding to that," the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, said today (Saturday) at a press conference outlining expenditure on health and welfare in the coming financial year.
"But we are doing so in a financially prudent way. While spending, especially on welfare, is increasing significantly, it is growing in a way we can afford," she added.
On health, welfare and social security for the elderly, Mrs Fok noted that spending next year would be about $10.2 billion.
This includes $1.2 billion on direct welfare services for the elderly which is a 20 per cent increase over 1995-96. It should be noted that the 1995-96 figure represented a massive 36 per cent increase over the previous year.
Mrs Fok said good progress had been made on the implementation of all the recommendations of the 1994 Report of the Working Group on Care for the Elderly.
For example, plans are in hand to train next year an additional 630 health workers to work in residential homes for the elderly, establish one additional community geriatric assessment team and three psychogeriatric teams to strengthen outreaching medical services in residential institutions, and conduct a study to establish the needs of and review the services for elderly people.
In addition, an extra 43 social centres and nearly 1,600 more residential places for the elderly will be provided, and 12 more home help teams on top of the 114 existing ones will be set up.
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