Articles in English

Medical literacy, insurance guidance and Hong Kong healthcare articles, each carrying its last-updated date and its sources.

76 articles

• Does intermittent fasting actually work for weight loss? How the control group changes the answer, the blank after 24 weeks, and where three sources disagree, 2026

  Intermittent fasting is not one way of eating. It is at least three. The American Diabetes Association's Standards of Care in Diabetes for 2026 divides it

  Last updated：2026-10-16

• How is the 51.9% for high cholesterol arrived at? Randomised statin data, whether Hong Kong has its own LDL target, and what the muscle-pain trials show, 2026

  The Department of Health's Population Health Survey report for the three years to 2022 (Part II) says that among people aged 15 to 84 the prevalence of

  Last updated：2026-10-16

• Is Ozempic a weight-loss injection in Hong Kong? GLP-1 registration as it stands, five boxed warnings, and the rebound after stopping, 2026

  Ozempic, the most searched of them, is registered in Hong Kong — but its US label is approved only for type 2 diabetes, with no weight-management

  Last updated：2026-10-14

• Elderly Health Centres are merging into District Health Centres in phases: first 9 from 5 October. What should members do?

  The short answer: keep any appointment you already have. The Department of Health states that members with a booked health assessment, chronic disease

  Last updated：2026-09-23

• Pneumonia is Hong Kong's second leading cause of death — how the numbers actually read, plus elderly risk, the vaccination programme and the official wording in one place

  The Centre for Health Protection's "Number of registered deaths by leading cause of death, 2001 - 2025" shows 11,260 registered deaths from pneumonia

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• How serious is heart disease in Hong Kong? The Centre for Health Protection's death figures, the official warning signs, and what happens at the Accident & Emergency Department

  The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, in "Number of registered deaths by leading cause of death, 2001 - 2025", records 6,593

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Osteoporosis and falls in elderly people — how the official figures actually read, and does the Government screen everyone's bone density?

  The Department of Health Centre for Health Protection's "Report of Unintentional Injury Survey 2018" (published August 2021) states that among the injury

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• What is the link between liver cancer and hepatitis B? Who is eligible for the Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme, and at what point is liver cancer screening subsidised

  The Hong Kong Cancer Registry of the Hospital Authority records, in Liver Cancer in 2023 (document dated Aug 2025), liver cancer deaths registered in 2023

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• How is the golden window for stroke counted? Thrombolysis, thrombectomy and Hong Kong's emergency arrangements

  Key point: stroke is a medical emergency. An article published on 10 March 2026 by Professor Leung Wai-hong, Chairman of the Hospital Authority's Central

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• The $500 Health Care Voucher reward, extended to end-2028 — how to earn it, when it expires, and why you cannot share it

  The Department of Health's Pilot Reward Scheme page and paragraph 248 of the 2026-27 Budget both announce that the scheme is extended by two years to the

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• What is the link between Helicobacter pylori and stomach cancer? Who needs testing, eradication and a re-test

  The 2023 Hong Kong consensus recommendations on Helicobacter pylori and the Department of Health's June 2024 stomach cancer prevention and screening

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• The Elderly Health Care Voucher in 2026 — how to use the $2,000 a year, the accumulation limit, sharing with a spouse and the $500 reward

  The Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme website states that each eligible elderly person receives $2,000 of vouchers a year, with an accumulation limit of

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• When does influenza vaccination 2026/27 start? It commences on 17 September — the free groups, the $260 subsidy and the vaccination arrangements

  The Centre for Health Protection announced on 31 August 2026 that the 2026/27 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programmes commence on 17 September.

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• The prostate PSA test: Hong Kong's screening advice, the age thresholds used elsewhere, and the numbers on benefit and harm

  The CEWG's 2026 Hong Kong recommendation states that there is insufficient scientific evidence to recommend for or against population-based prostate

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Nasopharyngeal cancer screening by EBV DNA: how to read a positive result, a negative result and the follow-up investigations

  In the CUHK team's 2017 study, 20,174 eligible, asymptomatic ethnically Chinese men underwent plasma EBV DNA screening;

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• How common is chronic kidney disease in Hong Kong? How to read the figure 405,833, how many people are on dialysis, the transplant waiting list, and the $10,000 annual spending cap

  The March 2026 issue of Non-Communicable Diseases Watch, published by the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, cites "a

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Where do you get a dementia assessment in Hong Kong? Official prevalence, assessment, community support and fees

  The August 2025 issue of Non-Communicable Diseases Watch, published by the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, reports that,

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Which vaccines for older adults are free, which are subsidised and which you pay for — influenza, pneumococcal, shingles, RSV and COVID-19

  The Centre for Health Protection's programme pages of 31 August 2026 state that the influenza vaccine subsidy for persons aged 50 or above at a private

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Which cancers are most common in Hong Kong, and which kill the most? The 2023 incidence and mortality figures, side by side

  The HKCaR's Overview of Hong Kong Cancer Statistics of 2023 (August 2025) records 37,953 new cancer cases and 14,867 cancer deaths.

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Lung cancer is Hong Kong's deadliest cancer. Why is it still first when the smoking rate is so low? The official figures, the risk factors and the screening advice

  The Centre for Health Protection's "Lung Cancer" page states that 3,935 people in Hong Kong died of lung cancer in 2024, 26.1% of cancer deaths, still

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• How common is pancreatic cancer in Hong Kong? The death trend, the survival rate, and how to read the screening advice

  The Hong Kong Cancer Registry's Overview of Hong Kong Cancer Statistics of 2023 (August 2025) states that pancreatic cancer caused 918 deaths in 2023,

  Last updated：2026-09-13

• Waiting for a public specialist appointment and getting worse — can you ask to be seen sooner? The Hospital Authority's own wording, who to contact, and how triage works

  You may ask. HA's Triage Arrangements page states: "If a patient's condition deteriorates before the appointment, he or she may contact the clinic

  Last updated：2026-09-04

• How does ageing in Guangdong actually work? Subsidised Guangdong places charge no home fee — and if you were referred from Hong Kong and stay 6 months, your Hong Kong queue closes

  "Ageing in Guangdong" is not one thing. The Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the government run at least five arrangements, each with its own

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• The numbers a smart scale prints: which are measured, which are calculated, and which are the manufacturer's own definition?

  For the body composition figures, a smart scale actually measures only two things: your weight and an electrical impedance.

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Home physiotherapy charges: $900–$2,000 an hour, where the surcharges are, and why the District Health Centre's $380 and the Hospital Authority's $100 each come with a gate

  The Consumer Council's survey published on 15 November 2024 (conducted September to October 2024, covering 15 non-government-subsidised organisations)

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• How do you apply for an elderly day care centre? A 6-month average wait, 2,914 people queuing, and respite at $41.5 a day with no assessment

  A subsidised day care centre or unit requires the Standardised Care Need Assessment first.

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Buying herbs at a Hong Kong dispensary: how much do 斤, 両 and 錢 differ? 1 錢 is 1/160 of a 斤, what a receipt should show, and where to complain

  Hong Kong Customs prints the conversion plainly: 1 tael (兩) = 1/16 catty (斤); 1 mace (錢) = 1/160 catty.

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Five indicators on a check-up report: what the thresholds are, who sets them, and why one number can mean two things on two reports

  This article takes five indicators (selected for ease of comparison, not any ranking) — ⚠️ two of which, blood pressure and BMI, are not blood tests but

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Asking a private hospital what it costs: what you can actually get in 2026 — five Consumer Council recommendations later, the law is still not in force

  What you have is not "nothing" — it is "not that kind of thing." The price-transparency provisions of the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Cap.

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• How do you book a Family Medicine Clinic (formerly GOPC)? Two routes for the public, a third for patients with hearing impairment, no fixed slot-release time, and caller ID required from 15 August

  For an episodic illness (a cold, gastroenteritis and the like) at a public clinic, the general public has two routes: that clinic's own telephone booking

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Your check-up report says "abnormal" — what next? Two centres, two answers for one person; what the official position is, and how a public referral works

  The first thing to sort out on receiving a report marked "abnormal" is that "outside the reference range" and "having a disease" are two different things.

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Before a video consultation: which code governs the doctor, when they should stop, and whether refunds are written down

  The Medical Council of Hong Kong's Ethical Guidelines on Practice of Telemedicine, promulgated in December 2019, states two things plainly: "Standards of

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• How is elderly care organised in Hong Kong? Homes, day centres, home care — and the single assessment gate that decides which queue you join

  Every subsidised long term care service — residential, day centre or home care — passes through one gate: the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• What are private care homes in Hong Kong actually like? The Consumer Council's 2024 survey of 40 private homes outside the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme — $6,000 to $82,000 a month, with the extras as the real variable

  The Consumer Council's survey published on 15 April 2024: questionnaires went to 297 private care homes not in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme, and only

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• How do you apply for a subsidised care home, and how long is the wait? 19,196 queuing, another 38,104 "inactive" — and in the same care-and-attention queue, 20 months at subvented homes against 6 at bought-place homes

  Social Welfare Department (SWD) statistics as at 31 July 2026: 19,196 people on the Central Waiting List for subsidised residential care (17,378

  Last updated：2026-08-31

• Who do the words "specialist doctor" mean in law? A full breakdown of the two registers, the seven tiers, and what a referral letter actually buys

  Hong Kong's Medical Registration Ordinance keeps only two registers — the General Register and the Specialist Register.

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• How long does insomnia have to last before it counts? International guidance grades one treatment strong — 6 recommendations, 14 sleeping medicines, and the Hong Kong wait, 2026

  The best-evidenced treatment for insomnia is not a sleeping pill but a behavioural therapy called CBT-I — of the six recommendations in the international

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• Is colorectal cancer screening really $1,000 out of pocket? Recommendations, the two stages of charges, four eligibility conditions and six situations that rule you out, 2026

  The $1,000 covers only the colonoscopy doctor's extra fee. The other two out-of-pocket items — the extra fee at the stool-test stage, and every

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• What score means you should have a mammogram? Recommendations, the government tool's five percentile bands, three risk groups and what four routes cost, 2026

  Hong Kong does not tell you to have a mammogram simply because you have reached a certain age; it tells you to be assessed first.

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• Are $4,600 and $13,250 the same colonoscopy? A full breakdown of what drives private quotations apart, the public system's three routes, and the risk band

  This article does not give you a range "from X to Y", because the two ends are not the same basis: one end is Union Hospital's "minimum charge", which

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• How do you actually read an echocardiogram report? Gradients, the official meaning of mild, and why normal does not mean nothing is wrong

  - On the mean gradient in aortic stenosis: a version saying "40–60 mmHg is moderate" differs from what the guideline prints.

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• Does everyone who passes 40 inevitably get presbyopia? Understanding what causes it, what actually corrects it, and what it costs in 2026

  Presbyopia is the lens inside the eye stiffening, not the eye going wrong. The Department of Health says it begins at about forty and settles at about

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• Which cervical screening test should you have? Recommendations against the actual service, the age boundaries, and what three routes cost, 2026

  The Department of Health's recommendations page still lists three methods side by side, but the Department's own service has used HPV testing as the

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• Which supplements actually have evidence behind them? Understanding what a bottle is in Hong Kong law, the Department of Health's own list, and what the large trials found

  This article will not tell you what to take or not take. It does two things: it sets out what a bottle of supplements is in Hong Kong law, and it lists,

  Last updated：2026-08-09

• How should you read a laboratory or imaging report? Understanding why the normal range is a property of the laboratory, not of your body

  That column on the right of your report headed "normal range" is a set of figures the laboratory issuing the report has set for itself, not a universal

  Last updated：2026-08-07

• When does soreness after the gym mean a trip to A&E? Rhabdomyolysis, overtraining, and what normal urine colour cannot rule out

  The biggest myth: "I looked at my urine, the colour is normal, so I must be fine." That inference runs backwards.

  Last updated：2026-08-07

• Is that chest pain your stomach or your heart? Indistinguishable is the guideline's own word, and it decides the order in which you are seen

  - The chest pain section is the most important part of this article. The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) guideline of 2022 states that reflux

  Last updated：2026-08-07

• Is a biological age test worth paying for in Hong Kong? Repeats of one sample 9 years apart, the prices actually published, and the disclaimers the sellers wrote themselves, 2026

  This is not an article about how to live longer. It is here to help you decide one thing: whether to pay for a "biological age" test.

  Last updated：2026-08-07

• Physiotherapist, chiropractor or doctor: who does what? Referral-free routes, the lines three ordinances draw, and what you can check before booking, 2026

  The biggest misconception is that "not a doctor" means "may not lawfully diagnose".

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• How much does cataract surgery actually cost in Hong Kong? Public waiting, the $8,000 Project Bright Vision subsidy, self-financed fees, and what VHIS pays

  Having cataract surgery in the public system, an eligible person pays 250 dollars per attendance for a 「日間醫療設施接受日間程序及治理」 — a day procedure and treatment

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• The public queue is too long — what are the other options? Nine public-private partnership schemes, the limits of the health care vouchers, and the triage rules

  The "three years" you saw in the news is not your waiting time. In its own frequently asked questions on specialist outpatient waiting times, the Hospital

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• Why does tianjiu have several different prices? Recommendations, the two fee items 2.5 times apart, the dates for 18 districts and four official documents that do not agree, 2026

  At the 18 district Chinese medicine clinics tianjiu is a "non-government-subsidised Chinese medicine service", so the subsidised $120 a visit and the fee

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• What is the actual evidence for longevity science? Cardiorespiratory fitness, grip strength, and the gap between association and cause

  The hardest longevity data there is are all "associations", not causes — and that one sentence is what this article most wants you to take away.

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• How do you apply for a medical fee waiver in Hong Kong? The income and asset lines, five classes of document, and four clocks that each start separately, 2026

  A "medical fee waiver" has to be applied for and it is means-tested. Whether it is granted, and whether in full or in part, is decided after an assessment

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• How do you use every dental subsidy you are entitled to? Recommendations, the voucher's 21 service points, the $500 reward extended to 2028, and six rules that change the bill before you go north, 2026

  Hong Kong has no public dental service for adults generally, and the Department of Health's emergency dental service treats pain and extracts teeth only.

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• How often should a healthy person have a body check? Screening intervals the government has published, and why the packages have none, 2026

  - The words "body check" cover two things of quite different natures in the marketplace: a screening aimed at one disease, with a defined target group and

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• Who set the 140/90 for high blood pressure? Diagnostic-procedure rules, three thresholds that cannot be mixed, and how the 29.5% is calculated, 2026

  The line Hong Kong uses to diagnose high blood pressure is office blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg, set by the Hong Kong Reference Framework for Hypertension

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• When does low back pain actually need an MRI scan? Recognising red flags, where the 80% lifetime figure comes from, and the new referral-free physiotherapy rules

  "80%" is not a global figure. It is one point inside a range. The World Health Organization's low back pain fact sheet (19 June 2023) publishes no

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• Are the steroid creams for eczema actually safe or not? Understanding the JAK black box warning, public dermatology triage, and how to apply for the subsidies

  Eczema (atopic dermatitis, AD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin disease that can be controlled but not cured.

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• How do you read Hong Kong's summer flu season? Hospitalisation rates, the ten indicators at week 30, what $260 really subsidises, and the eHealth threshold at 18, 2026

  Hong Kong entered a flu season in week 26 of 2026 (21 to 27 June), as the Centre for Health Protection announced on 2 July.

  Last updated：2026-08-03

• How much does a VHIS Standard Plan actually cover? Legislation that never happened, the first-year zero, and the 12 standard benefits, 2026

  The Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) is run by the Health Bureau. Registration of insurers and certification of products opened on 1 December

  Last updated：2026-08-02

• What does a VHIS policy actually pay in its first year? Recommendations, the 0% the official summaries leave out, the 12-item Standard Plan schedule and the three things a Flexi Plan may cut, 2026

  Every consumer-facing official summary begins at "25% in the second year". The contract does not: the policy template says the first Policy Year is "no

  Last updated：2026-08-02

• At 60, buying VHIS for the first time — can the insurer turn you down? A full breakdown of what it guarantees and what it does not

  What a Certified Plan guarantees is renewal and no re-underwriting — not that you will be accepted, and not that the premium will hold.

  Last updated：2026-08-02

• What does the Chronic Disease Co-Care Scheme actually cost? Screening has a cap, treatment does not, and what 1,182 service points really charge, 2026

  The screening phase has a cap written into the official documents. The treatment phase does not.

  Last updated：2026-08-02

• Does Hong Kong recommend scaling every six months? Quadrant-based fees, eight subsidy schemes and a rule that never existed, 2026

  There is no such rule. What the Department of Health publishes is not a scaling interval but an oral check-up interval, and for most people it is once a

  Last updated：2026-08-01

• How do fees work at the Chinese Medicine Hospital? Subsidised and market-oriented tracks, renamed district clinics, and $120 against $180, 2026

  The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (1 Pak Shing Kok Road, Tseung Kwan O, in service from 11 December 2025) has two fee tracks:

  Last updated：2026-08-01

• How long is the wait for a public specialist clinic? Recommendations, the 56 figures across 8 specialties and 7 clusters, and the column with no target at all, 2026

  The Hospital Authority sets standing waiting-time targets only for urgent and semi-urgent new cases.

  Last updated：2026-08-01

• How do you read a private hospital surgery bill? Four rules for the 50th and 90th percentiles, and two mechanisms that make the numbers incomparable, 2026

  Thirteen private hospitals publish actual bill statistics for 30 common operations on a government platform.

  Last updated：2026-08-01

• What actually makes up a private doctor's bill? Recommendations, the five parts of one bill, fourteen fee schedules that cannot be compared, and eight questions to ask, 2026

  A private outpatient bill has at least five parts: the consultation fee, drugs, injection and procedure charges, laboratory and imaging charges, and

  Last updated：2026-08-01

• Is the $8,000 VHIS tax deduction cap per policy or per insured person? A full breakdown of the 2026 claim rules

  Qualifying premiums for a VHIS Certified Plan are deductible from assessable income, capped at $8,000 per taxpayer, per insured person, per year of

  Last updated：2026-08-01

• Can a health care voucher be used for dental care up north? Two official counts, four institutional risks, and what to sort out before you go

  An eligible elderly person's health care voucher does work on the mainland, but only at the designated institutions and service points on the official

  Last updated：2026-07-31

• Is a self-paid whole-body MRI worth it? The ACR position where it matters, the cost of incidental findings and the kidney warning

  The American College of Radiology holds that for people with no symptoms, no risk factors and no relevant family history there is at present not enough

  Last updated：2026-07-31

• Does the $10,000 annual cap apply itself? A full breakdown of 2026 public hospital charges, the $400 A&E fee and fee waivers

  From 1 January 2026 Hospital Authority charges were comprehensively restructured: Accident & Emergency Triage Categories I and II (critical / emergency)

  Last updated：2026-07-31

• Does a negative sleep test mean you are in the clear? A full breakdown of the four kinds of test, the six situations that call for PSG, and the charges

  There is not one sleep apnoea test but at least four kinds: polysomnography (PSG) in a hospital or sleep centre, a home sleep apnoea test (HSAT) arranged

  Last updated：2026-07-31

• How to train without getting injured: four fundamentals that cost nothing, the evidence on three recovery methods, and five warning signs

  Preventing gym injuries rests on four things that cost nothing: a structured warm-up, progressive loading, sound technique, and enough recovery.

  Last updated：2026-07-27

• VO2max and grip strength are associations, not causes — four kinds of longevity claim, sorted by evidence

  Popular longevity claims get discussed as though they were one thing, when the strength of evidence behind them differs enormously.

  Last updated：2026-07-27