128.      In my last Budget, I indicated that the recurrent subvention for the Hospital Authority (HA) over the three financial years starting from 2009-10 would be increased by about $870 million each year. Apart from increasing the recurrent subvention through this arrangement, we will also allocate additional funding to the HA in 2010-11. Excluding the resources for procuring medical equipment and supplies, the additional funding provided to the HA in the next financial year will be $1.24 billion in total. The HA will make use of the additional funding to strengthen services, including:

Strengthening the training of nurses to meet service growth and development needs. It is expected that 1 400 nurses will graduate in 2010, an increase of 40 per cent over 2009, and the number will rise to 2 150 in 2012. We will also provide a total of 2 350 places in nursing programmes and training in the next two academic years, and 80 places in midwifery training in each of the next four years;

Strengthening the services provided for cancer, cataract and renal patients. A case management programme on cancer treatment will be introduced for 1 100 patients. Cataract surgeries will also be increased by about 40 per cent. For renal patients, the HA will strengthen haemodialysis services and introduce a pilot programme on palliative care;

Incorporating eight drugs into the Hospital Authority Drug Formulary to enhance the efficacy in treating cancer and rare genetic diseases. The HA will also expand the clinical application of nine drug classes. It is estimated that a total of 38 200 patients will benefit from these two initiatives each year;

Setting up a specialist centre for joint replacement, which also provides comprehensive post-surgical care and rehabilitation support to patients. It is expected that the centre can handle 750 additional cases a year, an increase of about 40 per cent;

Implementing various infection control measures to strengthen our preparedness against epidemic diseases such as human swine influenza; and

Improving medication safety in the HA through the newly established Drug Quality Assurance Office.

129.      To address citizens' concern about medication safety, the Government will allocate additional funding of about $40 million in the next financial year to enhance the regulation of drugs. The Food and Health Bureau has recently published its review findings on the regulatory regime of western pharmaceutical products and recommended dozens of improvement measures. To ensure medication safety and safeguard public health, the Government will propose legislative amendments and explore ways of implementing these measures and providing the necessary resource support.