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Energy efficiency meeting held

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan today attended the 60th Meeting of the Expert Group on Energy Efficiency & Conservation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Hong Kong.   In his welcome speech, Mr Tse said that Hong Kong was honoured to host the meeting again after 2019 and 2020 to provide a platform for direct dialogue among APEC partners.   “It is encouraging to see over 50 experts and delegates from 11 APEC member economies as well as four international organisations gather again to share insights and exchange experiences with their counterparts after the stabilisation of the epidemic.”   As the Asia-Pacific region develops, its energy demand and consumption would continue to increase, which may lead to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, he pointed out.   To achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government published Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 in 2021, outlining the st
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Admission of non-local doctors crucial

The Government said it is necessary to amend the Medical Registration Ordinance to create a new pathway to allow more qualified non-locally trained doctors to practise in Hong Kong's public healthcare sector to expand the city's pool of doctors.   In response to media enquiries on the proposed admission of non-locally trained Hong Kong doctors to practise in the city's public healthcare institutions, the Food & Health Bureau pointed out that it is an irrefutable fact that there is currently a shortage of doctors in Hong Kong.   For per capita doctor ratio, Hong Kong has a ratio of two doctors per 1,000 people which lags behind other advanced economies, including Singapore (2.5), Japan (2.5), the United States (2.6), the United Kingdom (3) and Australia (3.8).   The bureau said that there are insufficient doctors in the public healthcare sector.   Currently, the waiting time of specialty services in the Hospital Authority is extremely long. The waiting time for routine cases in some areas such as Medicine, Ophthalmology and Orthopaedics & Traumatology is over 100 weeks, the bureau said, adding the situation is unacceptable.   On the proposal to attract more qualified non-locally trained Hong Kong doctors to practise in public healthcare institutions, the bureau stressed that the licensing examination is not the only way to ensure the quality of doctors.   It said the proposal does not bypass the Medical Council of Hong Kong and there is a higher requirement for non-locally trained doctors.   The Government will meet representatives of the medical profession in batches starting next week and hold public consultation sessions to gauge public views.   It will then submit the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill to the Legislative Council in the second quarter of the year.
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