Latest news with #homeless support
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to offer free, low-cost dental services to city's homeless next year
Homeless people in Hong Kong will have access to free and more affordable dental services starting next year under an expanded government health programme, authorities have said. From 1 January, the community dental support programme under the city's Health Department will be expanded to offer dental scaling services, root canal treatment and denture fittings, with homeless people to be included as beneficiaries. To qualify, homeless individuals must first be identified by social workers from one of the 32 NGOs taking part in the scheme, which will refer them to the service. '[The Department of Health] asked NGOs focusing on homeless services to contact homeless people who are usually not in any government support network, so that they would not have to go through administration procedures such as proving their income,' Deputy Secretary for Health Eddie Lee Lik-kong said. Under the enhanced scheme highlighted in the policy address last year, participants will pay HK$50 (US$6.40) per teeth scaling service or root canal treatment, and HK$1,000 for either an upper or lower jaw denture. For the homeless and certain groups with greater needs, teeth scaling and root canal treatment will be free, while dentures will come at HK$500 per set. A set of dentures at the Prince Philip Dental Hospital currently costs between HK$7,600 and HK$30,000.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong residents in need avoid heat shelters, poll finds
About 65 per cent of Hong Kong residents in need have never used the government's heat shelters due to their remote locations, and users hope the lack of privacy at the facilities can be improved, a survey by advocacy groups has found. Greenpeace Hong Kong and ImpactHK, an NGO for the homeless, on Tuesday also called on the government to increase the number of such facilities in areas where low-income groups lived and improve the services offered. Ninety-seven respondents took part in the survey, carried out in June and July. They were interviewed on the streets, in fast food restaurants, at heat shelters or in support centres for the homeless in eight districts. 'It is the government's responsibility to provide resting spaces that allow people to rest with privacy and in dignity,' Isaac Ho Cheuk-hin, ImpactHK's programme manager, said. 'The survey reflects that they still have room for improvement.' The government opens 19 community halls or centres in all 18 districts as temporary heat shelters when the Observatory issues a 'very hot weather' warning. The facilities also provide bedding for users between 10.30pm and 8am the next day. Among the interviewees who have not been to the shelters, 53 per cent said the locations were inconvenient. According to the poll, 38 per cent were unaware that daytime heat shelters existed.
