Norman Ng: A Breakthrough for Cancer Patients in Hong Kong

Norman Ng, Director of Patient Advocacy and Public Affairs at Healthcare Thinkers, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Good morning, Ben! Good morning, folks!

Today we want to share one thing. It seems that two weeks ago, there was a friend who had a charity fund. What kind of charitable fund? Ben, read it out and listen – it’s the Greater China Cancer Foundation.

In addition, they have launched a “Drug Use Program for Designated Patients” and have achieved some good results. We received an email stating that the first batch of donated medicines from the charity had arrived in Hong Kong and arrived at hospitals under the HA. These drugs are provided to doctors and can be used directly on patients.

Ben, what do you think about this? I think this is really a breakthrough! It is a good deed for a charitable foundation to donate drugs that are not registered in Hong Kong and are subject to a complex designated patient scheme and can be delivered to the HA for free use by frontline doctors on cancer patients.

Hey, the doctor seemed a little worried at the time, because he saw that the process could take eight weeks to get the medicine. This is the regular time for a general designated patient program, as suppliers are found, applied, approved, and then shipped is arranged.

But this time it was different. With the assistance of the Greater China Cancer Foundation, they have solved the supply channel problem, which has greatly shortened the timeline. The HA seems to have cooperated this time by speeding up the process of doctors’ applications and submissions to the Department of Health.

In addition, this batch of drugs is a new scientific research drug in our mainland, and the logistics are naturally much faster when transported from the mainland. Wow, this time it’s great!

Ben, your old colleague, the General Office of the General Pharmacy Division, has worked very well with the Department of Health. It’s really fast and effective! Therefore, we really hope that the HA and the Department of Health, especially the Drug Office, can strengthen co-operation.

Charitable projects like these should make it as easy for frontline oncologists to process applications as possible, so that patients can start treatment without having to wait four to six weeks.

Ben, how can we make more oncologists in the HA aware of this line?

I believe that information transparency is an important part of our promotion of “Good Medicines for Hong Kong”. Apart from the HA itself effectively disseminating information to frontline oncologists, we also hope that clinical pharmacists in the oncology department will have access to this information. They can assist frontline clinical oncologists in dealing with the actual needs of clinical patients.

We are really looking forward to this development and will be closely monitoring this development. I really hope that more patients can benefit!

Yes, I also hope that through these schemes, more kind-hearted people can be attracted to donate medicines through this channel. With the active cooperation of HA, oncology patients under HA can obtain some effective and high-quality treatment drugs free of charge.

Then we will see you next time, goodbye!”

Proceed to the video attached to the post.