13-Jan-16 Public hospitals in Hong Kong will get an additional 5,000 beds and 90 operating theatres in the next 10 years as part of a HKD200 bn (USD26 bn) bundle of development projects to cope with a rapidly ageing population, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has said. [image: SCMP Pictures]

04-Jan-16 Hong Kong has seen a sharp rise in cancer cases involving children and adolescents. In 2013, there were 234 cancer cases among people below 19, an increase of 20% on 2012. The most common were leukaemia (29%), malignant brain tumor, germ-cell and gonadal cancer, and lymphoma. [image: HKEJ]

30-Dec-15 Accident and emergency services at public hospitals in Hong Kong are under serious stress, as daily use has surpassed 6,000 patients per day. Pok Oi Hospital and Caritas Medical Centre received patients 10% beyond capacity, and patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei exceeded its capacity by over 20%. [image: HKEJ]

09-Dec-15 Many countries in East Asia now have to worry about losing as much as 15% of their working-age population by 2040, according to the World Bank. It said aging population and low fertility rates are to blame. Policies such as encouraging women to work, reforming pension schemes and shifting focus from hospital care to primary care are being recommended. [image: Zhang Peng / LightRocket / Getty Images]

16-Oct-15 Hong Kong's Hospital Authority has narrowly averted a specialist doctor manpower crisis by raising their retirement age from 60 to 65. Under a scheme costing HKD570 mn (USD74 mn), 60 out of 100 doctors who were to retire this year will continue their service. Serving 90% of patients with only 40% of doctors, Hong Kong's public hospitals are chronically understaffed. [image: SCMP]