Author Archives: hksar gov

     â€‹Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) hosted the Women’s Health & Tech Forum 2025 today (March 4), bringing together distinguished speakers from the Government, academia, and the private sector to explore the intersection of technology and women’s health. The forum featured comprehensive sessions and media opportunities covering policy initiatives, clinical research translation, and ecosystem development, attracting key stakeholders from Hong Kong’s rapidly evolving health sector.
      
 Government’s strategic vision for advancing women’s health

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has positioned health innovation as a key driver of new quality productive forces in Hong Kong, with a clear vision to develop the city into an international health and medical innovation hub. Through comprehensive reforms in drug and medical device approval mechanisms, enhanced clinical trial capabilities, and accelerated research translation, the Government is creating a robust foundation for innovation in crucial sectors including women’s health.
      
     The Under Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee, stated, “The HKSAR Government is committed to complementing technological innovation with institutional innovation, developing Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub. As we move forward, we must continue to prioritise health and well-being of people in our innovation agenda. This requires collaboration across sectors – Government, academia, healthcare providers, and the private sector – all working together to address unmet needs and create sustainable and scalable solutions. Together, we can harness technology to improve health outcomes, empower women, and build a healthier society for all.”
      
InvestHK’s pivotal role in fostering innovation
      
     Hong Kong’s growing prominence in health technology is supported by InvestHK’s strategic initiatives to attract and facilitate innovative companies. The agency’s comprehensive approach combines with Hong Kong’s world-class infrastructure development, talent pool, and comprehensive ecosystem, developing Hong Kong as a leading health tech hub.
      
     The Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Ms Alpha Lau, commented, “As a global innovation and technology hub, Hong Kong is leveraging cutting-edge technologies and world-class expertise to advance women’s healthcare. With the global femtech market expected to grow substantially, InvestHK is dedicated to attracting pioneering solutions to strengthen the healthcare ecosystem in Hong Kong and across Asia.”
      
Advancing women’s health through academic-government collaboration
      
     Primary healthcare has become the backbone of Hong Kong’s public health initiatives. A significant development announced at the forum was the collaboration between the District Health Centre and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to introduce post-natal health services within the primary healthcare framework, showcasing how academic-government partnerships can effectively serve the unmet needs in local communities.
      
     The Commissioner for Primary Healthcare, Dr Pang Fei-chau, emphasised, “Primary healthcare has become the foundation of our public health initiatives, bringing essential services closer to the community through the District Health Centre Scheme. The Government has launched the Life Course Preventive Care plan. Based on the core principles of prevention-oriented and whole-person care, a personalised preventive care plan will be formulated according to the latest evidence to establish healthy lifestyle patterns and raise self-health management awareness among citizens of different age groups, thereby improving the overall health of the population, providing accessible and coherent healthcare network services, and establishing a sustainable healthcare system.”
      
     The Chairperson of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the CUHK, Prof Liona Poon, highlighted, “This collaboration helps address the unmet needs in post-natal health, which represents a significant step forward in women’s healthcare delivery. This partnership combines the CUHK’s pioneering clinical expertise with the Government’s community outreach capabilities. Through this integrated approach, we can better support women’s health needs at the community level.”
      
Driving innovation in women’s health tech

     Hong Kong’s health tech ecosystem continues to attract and nurture innovative companies addressing critical women’s healthcare needs. WomenX Biotech Limited, a Hong Kong-based start-up inventing non-invasive HPV test using menstrual blood, and EveryBaby, an Irish health tech company specialising in preterm birth prevention through cervical tissue analysis, exemplify how both local and international companies are leveraging the city’s advantages to advance women’s health technologies.

     The Founder of WomenX Biotech Limited, Dr Choi Pui-wah, shared, “The city’s research capabilities and clinical resources have been crucial in developing our technology for early disease detection. Hong Kong’s supportive ecosystem has enabled us to transform monthly menstrual blood collection into a powerful tool for women’s health monitoring.”

     The CEO of EveryBaby, Mr Dabriel Choi, added, “We chose Hong Kong as our Asian headquarters because of its strong healthcare foundation and strategic position for entering the Mainland China market. The ecosystem here facilitates meaningful partnerships between start-ups, researchers, and healthcare providers, which is essential for developing and validating our innovative preterm birth prevention technology.”

A hub for women’s health innovation

     The Women Health & Tech Forum 2025 has effectively demonstrated Hong Kong’s commitment to advancing women’s health through technology. By fostering collaboration between the Government, academia, and the private sector, and by leveraging the city’s strengths in life and health science, Hong Kong is establishing itself as a leading hub for women’s health innovation. This commitment to combining technological and institutional innovation aligns with the Government’s broader vision of developing Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub, creating impact both locally and across the region.

          

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:      The Marine Department today (March 4) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-… read more

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:      The Marine Department today (March 4) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-… read more

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (March 4) said that in order to assist grave sweepers and alleviate crowd conditions, the opening hours of columbaria under the FEHD will be extended to 7am to 7pm… read more

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, met with a delegation led by Vice Mayor of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government Mr Lai Zhihong today (March 4) to discuss the deepening of medical co-operation between Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
      
     At the meeting, both sides exchanged views on various cross-boundary medical collaboration measures, including the implementation progress of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme (Pilot Scheme), the cross-boundary use of electronic health records supported by the eHealth mobile application and strengthening the exchanges between healthcare professionals of the two places, which have laid the foundation for further collaboration in the future.

     Professor Lo said, “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to cross-boundary medical collaboration, and has been continuously exploring the collaboration in multiple areas and aspects of healthcare, with a view to continuously enhancing the regional advantage of healthcare professions of Hong Kong as well as the entire Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), thereby benefitting the residents in the region.
      
     “In this regard, the Health Bureau is actively pressing ahead with the extension of the Pilot Scheme to cover nine Mainland cities in the GBA as set out in the ‘The Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address’, with the aim of announcing relevant details in the first half of this year. In addition, we will fully utilise the eHealth platform to expand the sharing of cross-boundary medical records.

     “I have every confidence that under the guidance of key policies such as the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the National 14th Five-Year Plan, as well as the Resolution of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, Hong Kong and Guangzhou will take forward healthcare integration and innovation in the GBA through concerted efforts in accordance with the principles of complementarity and mutual benefits, thereby contributing to the needs of national development.”
      
     The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, as well as officials from the Health Bureau and the Department of Health, also attended the meeting today.