Hong Kong Launches Jockey Club Women Wellness Satellite for Holistic Women's Health Services

Opening ceremony of Jockey Club Women Wellness Satellite under Primary Healthcare Commission held today

The opening ceremony of the Women Wellness Satellite under the Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission) was held today (July 7), marking a new milestone in primary healthcare services focused on women's holistic health. Effective today, the Women Wellness Satellite has been officially named the Jockey Club Women Wellness Satellite (WWS).

The Under Secretary for Health, Dr Cecilia Fan, officiated at the opening ceremonyand naming ceremony of the WWS today. She said, "Integrating services of the Department of Health's Woman Health Centres and setting up the WWS has implemented the development directions and strategies for strengthening the primary healthcare system set out in the Primary Healthcare Blueprint by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. It also aligns with the Chief Executive's proposal in the 2024 Policy Address to promote the development of primary healthcare on all fronts, demonstrating the great importance the Government attaches to women's health." Operated by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs) under the commission of the PHC Commission, the three WWSs located on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and in the New Territories respectively have commenced operations in phases since June last year. They form a network with the District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses (collectively referred to as DHCs) across all 18 districts in Hong Kong to provide eligible women with prevention-oriented and more personalised women's health services. As of the end of April this year, the WWSs have recorded a cumulative total of more than 18 200 attendances.

"To address the specific health needs of women planning for pregnancy, the WWS plans to introduce pre-pregnancy services within this year. The services will cover health assessments, individual consultations and education, doctor consultations as well as examinations and follow-ups according to protocol-driven care pathways. At the same time, the Government is actively exploring the introduction of Chinese medicine services at the WWS tailored to women's health needs, with a view to providing women with a more comprehensive health support network."

The related works and medical equipment of the three WWSs are funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. In appreciation of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's support in promoting primary healthcare services for women, the three WWSs have been named the Jockey Club Women Wellness Satellite (Hong Kong), the Jockey Club Women Wellness Satellite (Kowloon) and the Jockey Club Women Wellness Satellite (New Territories) respectively, effective today.

The Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority, Dr Libby Lee; the Commissioner for Primary Healthcare of the Health Bureau, Dr Pang Fei-chau; the Deputy Director of Health, Dr Edmund Fong; the Head of Charities (Health & Older Adults Cluster) of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Ms Imelda Chan; and the Chairman of the TWGHs, Mr York Tseng, also attended the ceremony today.

Through a co-payment model, the WWS provides personalised women's health services to women holding a Hong Kong identity card or a Certificate of Exemption. Those who wish to use the services have to register as members of the DHC and give consent to enrol in eHealth. The DHC will arrange health risk assessments and family doctor pairings, and arrange for users to receive services at the WWS as needed. Apart from providing free health education for eligible women, the WWS offers services such as basic health assessments, individual consultations, cervical and breast cancer screenings to participants upon paying the co-payment. After assessment, participants with clinical needs for laboratory tests can also access relevant private laboratory services. Moreover, the WWS has also introduced various value-added services, including breast ultrasounds, 3D mammograms, human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing, HPV testing by self-sampling, and vaccination services. Members of the public can visit the WWS website for more information on the services and service charges of the WWS.

Source: AI-found images

New Measures to support development of Hong Kong's fixed income and currency market and offshore Renminbi business

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Photo source: reference image

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the People's Bank of China (PBoC) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced today (July 7) a series of new measures to deepen the financial co-operation between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, support the development of Hong Kong's fixed income and currency (FIC) market and offshore Renminbi (RMB) business, and reinforce Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre. These measures include:

• supporting the collaboration of financial infrastructure institutions in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland to develop a Hong Kong FIC electronic trading platform;

• further enhancing and expanding the Southbound Bond Connect, including increasing the annual investment quota, developing bond repurchase (repo) business using Southbound Bond Connect bonds as collateral, expanding the product scope to cover products with HKD bonds and RMB bonds as underlying assets, connecting to the Macao bond market, and enhancing the management of Southbound Bond Connect market makers;

• supporting the inclusion of onshore bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance and Mainland policy banks that are held under Northbound Bond Connect as eligible margin collateral at the HKFE Clearing Corporation and the SEHK Options Clearing House;

• enhancing the Northbound Bond Connect operational arrangement to extend the settlement time and improve efficiency;

• further enhancing the Swap Connect to include the interbank Seven-Day Fixing Depository-Institutions Repo Rate (FDR007) as a reference rate; and

• supporting the launch of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Five-Year China Government Bond Futures in Hong Kong on August 3.

The People's Bank of China, Photo source: reference image

Building on this, the HKMA also announced five measures to support the development of the offshore RMB market and strengthen Hong Kong's role as a leading offshore RMB business hub, thereby enabling greater outreach to other regions and enhancing support for the real economy. These measures, underpinned by strong support from the PBoC, address industry suggestions for developing the offshore RMB market. These include:

• increasing the size of the HKMA's RMB Business Facility from RMB200 billion to RMB500 billion and extending tenors to include nine-month, two-year and three-year, effective on July 10;

• exploring to introduce a tendering mechanism of seven-day offshore RMB liquidity;

• exploring the issuance of offshore RMB short-term debt instruments to support the building of the offshore RMB yield curve;

• promoting the development of a bilateral currency transaction framework between Indonesian Rupiah and offshore RMB; and

• issuing good practices to banks to promote RMB adoption.

The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue, said, "We are pleased to announce this series of measures, which will further deepen cross-boundary financial co-operation, strengthen financial market connectivity between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, promote the development of Hong Kong's fixed income and currency market, and reinforce Hong Kong's position as an offshore RMB business hub and international financial centre. These measures are the result of concerted efforts of the HKMA, the PBoC and other relevant financial regulatory authorities in Hong Kong and on the Chinese Mainland. We will continue to work closely with the relevant regulatory authorities, the industry and financial infrastructure institutions to ensure timely and smooth implementation of the measures, and explore further enhancements."

The Securities and Futures Commission, Photo source: reference image