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South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
When Hong Kong got its first kidney dialysis treatment centre in 1981
'The Hongkong Kidney Foundation will soon have its own treatment centre in Kowloon for patients with kidney diseases,' reported the South China Morning Post on September 23, 1980. 'The centre will be in Prince Building, Prince Edward Road. It will be the colony's first kidney diseases treatment centre. The centre, which will also serve as the foundation's headquarters, has been made possible by various donations. The South China Morning Post's report on the new kidney treatment centre, on September 23, 1980. Photo: SCMP Archives 'Earlier in the year, the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club donated $2 million towards setting up the treatment centre. Including many other donations, the foundation has so far raised a total of $5,616,553. The foundation is now recruiting a medical director and other staff members to man the treatment centre, which is expected to be in operation by early next year. A further objective will be to set up a service for the transplant of kidneys by encouraging people to agree to donate their kidneys after death.' Advertisement On August 5, 1981, the Post stated, 'The acting Governor, Sir Jack Cater, will this evening officiate at the opening of the Hongkong Kidney Foundation's dialysis centre. The centre has been bought with a donation from Mr Li Ka-shing. This has enabled the foundation, which is a voluntary organisation dedicated to helping kidney patients, to begin functioning.' The next day, the Post reported that 'Sir Jack Cater, officiated at the opening ceremony, held at the Pearl Theatre in Causeway Bay. And he praised the Hongkong Kidney Foundation, who will run the new centre in Kowloon, for its 'vigorous efforts to focus [on] and combat the problems experienced by kidney disease sufferers in Hongkong.' Sir Jack Cater, Hong Kong acting governor, speaks at the opening ceremony of a new kidney dialysis centre. Photo: SCMP Archives 'The ceremony was followed by a charity premiere for the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only - organised by the Hongkong Round Table No 10 – which raised about $100,000 for the foundation. 'A member of the foundation's board of governors, a leading surgeon, said that every year 400-500 new cases of kidney disease come to light here. The surgeon added that 'without proper treatment, those people would eventually die.' 'In a foreword to the programme for the charity premiere, Sir Jack wrote: 'While the Hongkong Government has ambitious medical development programmes, including a planned expansion of its haemodialysis service, there are few governments which have achieved complete medical coverage for all its citizens in all areas.''
South China Morning Post
07-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
When Hong Kong got its first care home for mentally ill children
'A home for mentally defective children will be built in the New Territories at a cost of about $3,800,000,' reported the South China Morning Post on February 18, 1968. 'First of its kind, the home will be located at Siu Lam near the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir . It will be known as the Siu Lam Hospital for the Mentally Handicapped. Work on the formation of the site is expected to start in April this year. 'A home for mentally defective children will be built in the New Territories at a cost of about $3,800,000,' reported the South China Morning Post on February 18, 1968. Photo: SCMP Archives 'The home will consist of two hospital blocks two storeys high, an administration and kitchen block of three storeys, and four blocks of quarters ranging from two to four storeys for the sisters and other staff. A Prisons Department mental hospital will be constructed nearby.' On August 14, 1969, the Post reported that 'a hospital for 200 severely mentally retarded children now being built at Siu Lam with funds donated by the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club is expected to open next year, the Director of Medical and Health Services, Dr the Hon P. H. Teng, said. The Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, a Prisons Department mental hospital pictured here in 1974, was built alongside the children's home in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Archives 'Dr Teng said a number of mental defectives were being cared for by the Kuk, the Tung Wah Hospital and eight other institutions. He said Government realised some of these children were being left unattended during the day [and a team] would carry out assessments of degrees of retardation, starting with those who appeared to be severely retarded both in institutions and at home. 'Government recognises the often insupportable burden placed on parents of severely retarded children, and they will be given priority in regard to the provision of residential accommodation,' Dr. Teng said.' On September 12, 1970, the paper stated, 'the construction of the Siu Lam Hospital for the Mentally Subnormal which was halted when the contractor, Goodman Corporation (Engineering and Building) Ltd, was liquidated, will begin again […] The project was among $30 million worth of work left unfinished by the company.' And on December 17, the Post reported that the director of public works, Mr J.J. Robson, had said that 'progress on the hospital had been 'unsatisfactory''. 'The work should now be completed within nine months.' A young patient is attended to at the new Siu Lam Hospital in Hong Kong in 1973. Photo: SCMP Archives Nearly two years later, under the headline 'Siu Lam Hospital opening a significant step forward', the Post reported: 'Sir Kenneth Ping-fan Fung, retiring Executive Councillor, said yesterday the Siu Lam Hospital for the severely mentally retarded […] was a significant step forward in the providing of social services for all. 'Before Siu Lam was constructed, there was no properly planned medical institution created exclusively for the medical care of the severely retarded.' He praised Government for deciding 'the time has come for all members of the community, even the most disadvantaged, to be brought into the fold to enjoy the benefits of an improved economy and general prosperity'.'
