Hong Kong public clinic patients to get 24-week supply of medicine at most

Hong Kong residents will be limited to a maximum 24-week supply of medication at public clinics and hospitals per visit starting next month under a new policy introduced by authorities.

William Chui Chun-ming, the Hospital Authority’s chief pharmacist, said on Tuesday that the policy, commencing on March 24, would apply to prescriptions that were 24 weeks or longer, and patients would need to make follow-up visits to pharmacies to get more medicine.

“For example, if the doctor prescribes 10 months of medication for the patient, the pharmacy will first provide an initial supply of six months and refill the remaining four months later,” he told the Post.

“Our first goal is to reduce wastage of drugs, the second one is to enhance patient safety … The third one will be to improve therapeutic outcomes.”

The policy would cover patients at general and specialist outpatient clinics, and those who were discharged from hospitals, he said.

But case-by-case consideration would be given to patients with mobility issues or difficulty retrieving their medication, Chui added.