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HEALTHAug 4Shenzhen authorities order stop to illegal dental services, misleading ads in Hong KongShenzhen’s health authorities have issued a warning to private medical service providers, urging them to halt unauthorised operations and marketing activities in Hong Kong after local officials alerted their mainland Chinese counterparts to an unlicensed dental practice in the city. The warning from the Public Hygiene and Health Commission of Shenzhen Municipality came a week after Hong Kong police arrested a 72-year-old local man on July 23 for allegedly practising dentistry illegally at a...South China Morning Post
HEALTHAug 3Hong Kong IVF clinic worker lied to cover up embryo specimen mix-up, flees cityAn employee of a Hong Kong fertility clinic is suspected of lying to cover up a mistake involving mixed-up embryo biopsy specimens, the South China Morning Post has learned, with police listing the case as fraud and placing the worker, who has returned to Malaysia, on the wanted list. A source said the employee worked at Heal Fertility in Central and was responsible for extracting specimens from embryos before they were sent to the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) for testing. In late...South China Morning Post
HEALTHAug 2How can Hong Kong retirees ease the pain of rising healthcare costs?Retiree Philip Kong says he realised Hong Kong’s healthcare system needed a wake-up call when he discovered that receiving treatment for his prostate condition in neighbouring Shenzhen could potentially cut his medical bill by nearly 90 per cent. The 75-year-old was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate earlier this year and set to pay HK$210,000 (US$26,780) for a scheduled surgery at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital – until a family friend, who is a urologist, suggested another option. The...South China Morning Post
HEALTHAug 2Shady lip service: experts warn against illicit beauty treatments in Hong KongBeauticians from outside Hong Kong are performing illegal cosmetic procedures such as botulinum toxin and filler injections in the city, with middlemen setting up online “secret societies” or chat groups for customers to share information, industry experts have revealed. A beauty industry expert and a plastic surgeon said they had seen or received reports of botched procedures by beauty practitioners allegedly from mainland China or overseas. The industry insider said these beauticians did not...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 31Residents sign directives as Hong Kong’s new end-of-life law takes effectHong Kong octogenarian Chan Yiu-kuen is ready to let death take its course when the time comes. The 89-year-old said she would sign an advance medical directive to clearly indicate which life-sustaining treatments she would not want if she became terminally ill. “It is OK to depart the world at my old age. Better not to rescue me further, as it could be hard for me,” said Chan, who is mentally capable and has no major illnesses. Chan is among residents signing directives with the help of doctors...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 30Hong Kong must add specialised services to tackle rising youth suicides, NGO saysHong Kong should integrate specialised intervention services into its youth suicide response strategy, an NGO has said, as the number of minors taking their own lives reached a 10-year high in 2025. Citing the coroners’ report, the Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong said on Thursday that 1,019 suicides were recorded last year, equivalent to 13.57 per 100,000 population. This was down from the 10-year peak of 1,138 suicide cases in 2024. However, suicides among those aged 19 or younger rose to 47,...South China Morning Post
HEALTHBREAKINGJul 28Hong Kong parents rush babies for check-ups over infant formula lead scareSouth China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 28Hong Kong drives trials for breast cancer, eye treatments across Greater Bay AreaTwo US-developed treatments for breast cancer and a degenerative eye disease will undergo large-scale clinical trials in the Greater Bay Area in a collaboration involving Hong Kong, Shenzhen and a pharmaceutical start-up founded by a former lawmaker. The agreement was formalised on Tuesday when Health Hope Pharma founder Dr Dennis Lam Shun-chiu signed a memorandum of understanding with the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute (GBAICTI) and its Shenzhen counterpart, Greater Bay...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 28How early screening saved Hong Kong woman from her family’s liver cancer fateHongkonger Ms Lam has long known she is carrying a ticking time bomb after her mother and grandmother died of liver cancer. Her mother was completely asymptomatic until a late-stage diagnosis left no option for surgery. “I knew I carried the hepatitis B virus when I was in my twenties and had since then undergone regular health check-ups to manage the bomb,” the woman in her fifties recalled. Her regular checks were only disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic. When she returned for a check-up in...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 26How can Alzheimer’s patients in Hong Kong buy ‘more golden hours’ with family?In the third of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on ageing in Hong Kong, Victor Ting looks at how advances in early screening and new drug therapies are offering fresh hope for Alzheimer’s patients, as experts say the city must expand support efforts to meet rising demand. For years, Hong Kong retiree Mary Chan* lived with a quiet fear that dementia ran in her family. The 65-year-old grandmother would sometimes misplace her belongings in public – incidents she brushed off as part of...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 23Hong Kong’s end-of-life law raises concerns over emergency care, affordabilityHong Kong’s new legislation on end-of-life directives could create significant operational challenges, including verifying patients’ wishes in emergencies and affordability barriers for low-income families, according to frontline responders and patient advocates. The warnings come a week before the Advance Decision on Life-sustaining Treatment Ordinance takes effect next Friday. Under the law, a formal legal framework will empower Hongkongers to specify in advance which life-sustaining...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 22End-of-life directives to go on eHealth as new law takes effect in Hong KongHongkongers will be able to upload orders specifying which life-sustaining treatments they do not wish to receive when terminally ill to the city’s electronic health record platform from next Friday, when the new law comes into effect. The move marks a significant step in formalising end-of-life care arrangements, more than 20 months after the Advance Decision on Life-sustaining Treatment Ordinance was passed by lawmakers. “This legislation is a milestone for Hong Kong’s end-of-life care,” Dr...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 22Hong Kong’s Chinese medicine hospital to launch stroke, back pain programmes next weekThe Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is set to launch two strategic treatment programmes for stroke and lower back pain next week, with bookings opening on Wednesday. Bian Zhaoxiang, the hospital’s chief executive, told reporters on Wednesday that the two treatments were part of 23 special disease programmes to be rolled out over five years as part of the institution’s strategic development plan to meet healthcare needs and promote the competitive advantages of traditional Chinese medicine...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 19‘They only eat to sustain life’: how does isolation shape Hong Kong’s elderly diets?In the second of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on ageing in Hong Kong, Lo Hoi-ying examines rising social isolation among the elderly, its serious health risks and how activities and community support are helping seniors stay socially engaged. For Lee Chor-kwan, an 89-year-old living alone in Hong Kong, mealtimes are often lonely. But the highlight of his day is lunchtime, when he visits an elderly care home to eat with his 86-year-old wife, whom he met through an arranged marriage...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 17Some workers seek to quit smoking as ban on Hong Kong construction sites kicks inSome Hong Kong workers have said they intend to quit smoking as a new ban on smoking at construction sites came into force on Friday. The ban came in the wake of the deadly fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate, a disaster that killed 168 people last November and was suspected to have been caused by workers smoking while carrying out renovations. Under the legal amendments, an individual caught smoking at a construction site faces a fixed penalty of HK$3,000 (US$380) for individual...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 14Baby Rufus in urgent need of heart donation, Hong Kong health authorities sayHong Kong health authorities have made an urgent appeal for a heart transplant for a six-month-old boy in a critical condition, saying the Hospital Authority will also seek assistance from mainland China soon. An authority spokesman said on Tuesday evening that six-month-old Rufus, who suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy and is in the paediatric intensive care unit at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, urgently needed a heart transplant. “Given the critical condition of the patient, in addition to...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 12How can Hong Kong age well?South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 12‘I’m lonely’: why are 50% of Hong Kong’s elderly socially isolated – and what can help?In the first of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on ageing in Hong Kong, Fiona Sun examines rising social isolation among the elderly, its serious health risks and how activities and community support are helping seniors stay socially engaged. Chow Kam-shim, 92, and her husband Lau Moon-wing, 100, still face off against opponents every day on the boccia court at their residential home for the elderly in Hong Kong’s Po Lam. Focused and steady, the couple send coloured leather balls...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 12Youth suicides in Hong Kong hit 10-year high: court reportYouth suicide cases confirmed by Hong Kong Coroner’s Court reached a decade-high last year, despite a 10 per cent overall decline across the population to 1,019. According to the annual coroners’ report published last month, suicide cases confirmed by the court declined across almost all age groups, except for those aged between 10 and 19. Last year, 46 adolescents aged 10 to 19 were reported to have taken their own lives, up from 34 cases in the previous year and reaching a decade high. Most of...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 11How Hong Kong can lead in longevity medicine as silver economy growsA profound demographic and economic shift is sweeping through Asia, quietly rewriting the rules of national development. The traditional paradigm of treating population ageing as a passive fiscal burden is being dismantled as Beijing makes the “silver economy” and proactive ageing strategies the pillars of national security and economic growth. China’s population aged 60 and above reached 320 million last year, accounting for 23 per cent of its citizenry. This is projected to climb to 400...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 9Parent company of Hong Kong IVF clinic says sorry for embryo specimen mix-upThe parent group of a Hong Kong fertility clinic involved in a rare mix-up of embryo biopsy specimens has apologised for the incident, pledging to cooperate with the authorities’ investigation and provide support to affected patients. New Frontier Group, the parent company of Heal Fertility in Central, broke its silence two days after the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) saga came to light, saying in a statement on Thursday that it had launched a comprehensive internal review. The assisted...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 8Hong Kong records surge in disciplinary cases among intern and resident doctorsThe number of disciplinary cases involving intern and resident doctors in Hong Kong’s public hospitals has nearly tripled over four years, with lawmakers calling for stronger safeguards to uphold professional standards. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau revealed on Wednesday that the Hospital Authority recorded 35 disciplinary cases involving intern and resident doctors for poor performance or breaches of professional conduct during 2025-26. The figure rose from 23 recorded in 2024-25, 20 in...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 8Embryo specimen mix-up: what happened and how is IVF regulated in Hong Kong?A rare mix-up involving embryo biopsy specimens at Heal Fertility, a privately-run reproduction clinic in Hong Kong linked to former financial secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung, has prompted investigations by health authorities and police The South China Morning Post looks into fertility treatments in the city and how they are regulated. 1. What is in vitro fertilisation? In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a fertility treatment offered to couples struggling to conceive naturally. A woman receiving...South China Morning Post
HEALTHJul 7Hong Kong IVF clinic ordered to suspend most services after embryo sample errorsHong Kong’s regulator for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has ordered a fertility clinic to partially halt operations after it mishandled embryo biopsy specimens from two patients and failed to report the incident to health authorities. The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Tuesday that it had suspended most operations at HEAL Fertility in Central after discovering that embryo biopsy specimens the clinic sent for pre-implantation genetic testing belonged to the wrong parents. The...South China Morning Post