HK to review private healthcare facilities after fatal incident

In the wake of a fatal incident involving a beauty center, Hong Kong has formed four working groups to review private healthcare facilities in the city.

The review was made under a steering committee reviewing the regulatory regime for private healthcare facilities, an official with the city government said on Friday.

The committee, established last month after the death of a woman who had undergone a blood transfusion at a beauty center, met for the first time on Friday.

Secretary for Food & Health of the city government Ko Wing-man told reporters that one of the working groups, led by Director of Health Constance Chan, will differentiate between medical procedures and practices, and beauty services.

It will address the health risk brought by beauty parlors improperly performing medical procedures under the cover of providing "medical beauty services", and the group will present its initial recommendations to the committee by the second quarter of next year, Ko said.

The other three groups will focus on defining high-risk medical procedures and practices performed in ambulatory settings, the regulation of premises processing health products for advanced therapies, and the regulation of private hospitals.

Ko said he plans to issue guidelines to the beauty industry, which will be incorporated into legislation in the long term.

The appointments to the remaining three working groups will be made soon.

On Oct. 10, a 46 year-old woman died in a Hong Kong hospital after suffering septic shock following blood transfusions at the beauty center in Causeway Bay. She had been infected with a drug- resistant "superbug". Another three women were badly ill after receiving the same treatment at the beauty center.