Fatal traffic accident in Lantau North
Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident happened in Lantau North yesterday (August 25) in which a man died, while seven men and four women were injured.
Police received a report at 7.57pm that a taxi driven by a 59-year-old man was travelling along Cheung Tung Road towards Tung Chung, it suspectedly cut the lane and collided with a bus travelling along Cheung Tung Road towards Kowloon, driven by a 59-year-old man, and then rammed into a moving medium goods vehicle.
Photo source: FB image
Police officers sped to the scene. The taxi driver was trapped inside the compartment and rescued by firemen. Sustaining serious multiple injuries, the taxi driver was rushed to North Lantau Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 9.20pm. A 48-year-old male taxi passenger, sustaining back and neck injuries, was sent to Princess Margaret Hospital in conscious state. The 59-year-old male bus driver and nine bus passengers (five men and four women), aged between 24 and 71 and sustaining injuries to their heads, necks and limbs, were sent to North Lantau Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital in conscious state respectively.
Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, New Territories South is underway.
Photo source: FB image
Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 3661 1346.
Health Bureau releases Hong Kong's Domestic Health Accounts 2024/25
The Health Bureau (HHB) released Hong Kong's Domestic Health Accounts (DHA) 2024/25 today (Aug 26), together with revised figures for previous years adjusted in accordance with international practice to incorporate the latest available information. The DHA provides a systematic description of the flow of health expenditure in Hong Kong over a 12-month period, forming a basis for assessing and understanding the levels and trends of health spending in Hong Kong.
Overall speaking, the trend of health expenditure for 2024/25 remained steady. The Current Health Expenditure (CHE) in Hong Kong was $262,513 million, representing an increase of 5.0 per cent (or $12,491 million) over a year earlier. The CHE as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 8.2 per cent, similar to that of last year. The CHE per capita was $34,890.
Public healthcare expenditure ($135,450 million) accounted for 51.6 per cent of the CHE in 2024/25, and public CHE per capita was $18,000. Public CHE as a percentage of GDP was 4.2 per cent, similar to that of last year. Over the past 10 years, both CHE and public CHE in Hong Kong as a percentage of GDP showed an upward trend in general.
As for private healthcare expenditure ($127,063 million), it accounted for 48.4 per cent of the CHE in Hong Kong, or 3.9 per cent as a percentage of GDP, in 2024/25.
The Government has been actively advancing primary healthcare reform in accordance with the directions set out in the Primary Healthcare Blueprint, gradually shifting the emphasis of the healthcare system from treatment-focused secondary and tertiary care to prevention-oriented, family doctor-centred primary healthcare. Since its establishment, the Primary Healthcare Commission has not only continued to expand the district health network, but has also been continuously enhancing and promoting the Chronic Disease Co-Care Scheme. In 2024/25, the primary healthcare expenditure accounted for 30.4 per cent of the overall CHE, and is progressing towards the Blueprint's objective of achieving a better balance between primary and secondary/tertiary care in overall healthcare expenditure, such as around 3.5:6.5 or even 4:6, in the long run. This reflects that the Government is gradually establishing a more sustainable healthcare system to cope with challenges posed by an ageing population, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and more.
The DHA is compiled in accordance with the guidelines given in "A System of Health Accounts 2011" collaboratively published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Eurostat and the World Health Organization. It classifies the overall health expenditure into four dimensions of analysis, namely Health Care Financing Schemes (HFS), Revenues of HFS, Health Care Providers and Health Care Functions. These data enable policymakers, researchers and members of the public to assess the performance of the Hong Kong health system over time and to make comparisons with other economies that adopt the same framework in calculating their health expenditure.
The DHA 2024/25 has been uploaded to the HHB website (www.healthbureau.gov.hk/statistics/en/dha.htm). Detailed classifications and time-series data are shown in an online interactive data dashboard with tables and graphs available to facilitate further analysis and research.
Source: AI-found images
