Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ7: Health and Medical Research Fund
Following is a question by the Hon Paul Chan Mo-po and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(January 11):
Question:
The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has proposed to merge the Health and Health
Services Research Fund (HHSRF) and the Research Fund for the Control of
Infectious Diseases (RFCID), which are currently managed by FHB, into a new
Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF). Yet, the structure of HMRF's
secretariat cannot be streamlined after the merger, as the authorities have
explained that the funding scope of HMRF will be expanded, and at the meeting of
the Finance Committee held in December last year, the authorities also indicated
that 10 additional secretariat staff would be required, as many procedures would
be involved in vetting and approving research projects, and quarterly interim
reports were to be submitted and overall assessments had to be made upon the
completion of projects. In this connection, will the Government inform this
Council:
(a) of the differences between the specific procedures for vetting and approving
research projects under HHSRF and RFCID, and those under HMRF which will be set
up shortly; whether it has assessed if there is any inadequacy or loophole in
the vetting and approving procedures under HHSRF and RFCID; whether the vetting
and approving procedures under HMRF are formulated after making reference to the
experiences of other similar funds; if so, of the details; if not, how the
vetting and approving procedures are drawn up;
(b) whether submission of quarterly reports and overall assessments upon the
completion of projects are required under HHSRF and RFCID; if so, how such
requirements differ from those under HMRF, and how the authorities assessed the
manpower requirements involved;
(c) given that the administrative expenses on the operation of HMRF will mainly
be borne by FHB, of the amount to be involved each year; whether there are
similar funds the administrative expenses of which are mainly borne by FHB; if
there are, of the names of such funds and the respective amounts involved each
year;
(d) given that the authorities have estimated that other administrative expenses
directly incurred in operating HMRF, which represent about 1.4% of the fund's
total value, will be borne by HMRF itself, of the specific distribution of the
expenses involved; how such distribution of expenses compares with the relevant
situation under HHSRF and RFCID;
(e) of the annual additional expenses involved in the provision of additional
secretariat staff for HMRF; the respective amounts of such expenses to be borne
by FHB and HMRF; and
(f) whether it has assessed the economic benefits to be brought by HMRF in
promoting the medical industry in Hong Kong; if it has, of the specific details;
if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has proposed to set up a new Health and Medical
Research Fund (HMRF), which aims to encourage, facilitate and support local
health and medical research to inform health policies, promote population
health, strengthen the health system, enhance healthcare practices, advance
standard and quality of care, and promote Hong Kong's position as a centre of
clinical excellence in the region, through generation and application of
evidence-based scientific findings derived from local research in health and
medicine. The existing Health and Health Services Research Fund (HHSRF) and
Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases (RFCID) administered by FHB
will be consolidated into HMRF, with an additional injection of $1,000 million
to broaden the funding scope for local health and medical research. Apart from
the research projects currently supported by the two Funds, HMRF will also fund
health and medical research in other specific areas in order to provide
comprehensive and dedicated support for health and medical research activities,
research infrastructure and research capacity building in Hong Kong.
The consolidated HMRF will continue to be managed by FHB under the established
governance mechanism of the existing Research Funds. The mechanism was developed
with reference to the experience of other places in managing similar funds. This
includes a Health and Medical Research Council chaired by the Secretary for Food
and Health and comprising leading professionals in the local medical and
academic sectors. The Research Council will be responsible for overseeing the
direction, strategy and scope of health and medical research projects funded by
HMRF.
To cater for the broadened funding scope, the Administration plans to further
strengthen the governance mechanism of HMRF, including engaging more renowned
local and overseas experts and setting up a series of Expert Advisory Panels on
relevant fields for individual research areas, with a view to providing expert
advice on the direction, strategy and operation of HMRF and overseeing the
outcome evaluation of the funded research projects on relevant fields.
My replies to the various parts of the question are as follows:
(a) The procedures of HMRF for vetting funding proposals will follow the
established vetting mechanism of the existing HHSRF and RFCID, which was
developed with reference to the experience of other places in managing similar
funds. All proposals for research funding will be subject to a stringent
two-tier peer review process established following international practices to
ensure all funded projects are of appropriate scientific design and high
scientific merits: first by a Referee Panel comprising overseas referees chosen
for their expertise in relevant research areas; second by the Grant Review Board
(GRB) comprising a multidisciplinary panel of local experts with technical
skills and experience in a wide spectrum of health sciences. Based on objective
vetting criteria, they assess the scientific merits of the research projects,
applicability to local context and other considerations, such as research ethics
and "value for money" of the projects. The GRB will make funding recommendation
to the Research Council for consideration and approval.
(b) The research projects funded by HMRF after review will be subject to
monitoring and evaluation. The relevant mechanism will follow the established
procedures of the existing HHSRF and RFCID. The principal applicant of an
approved project is required to submit progress reports and certified financial
statements at regular intervals. Upon completion of the project, a final report
and audited account should be submitted. The final report will also be subject
to the stringent two-tier peer review process. The impact of the research
funding will be evaluated by the Research Fund Secretariat after completion of
the study using a standardised evaluation questionnaire formulated in accordance
with internationally recognised measure of health research activities. The
questionnaire describes the research outcomes and outputs in terms of knowledge
generation, capacity building, engagement with peers and the public and benefits
derived. Research reports of successfully completed projects will be
disseminated to the community via promulgation by the Food and Health Bureau
(FHB) on its website (www.fhb.gov.hk/grants)
and publication in the Hong Kong Medical Journal which is distributed to
relevant healthcare professionals. FHB will report regularly to the LegCo on the
utilisation of HMRF. For the manpower requirements involved, please refer to the
ensuing parts of the reply.
(c) to (e) The current Research Fund Secretariat of FHB comprising eight staff
of various levels and expertise is directly responsible for the management of
HHSRF and RFCID under FHB and the provision of administrative and technical
support services, including initial screening of applications, liaison with
applicants, assignment of referees, preparation of documents for Research
Council and GRB meetings, as well as monitoring and assessing funded research
projects etc. The annual recurrent cost of about $7 million is absorbed by FHB's
provisions.
With the increased commitment and expanded funding scope (to cover advanced
medical research in specific fields including paediatrics, neuroscience,
clinical genetics and clinical trials) of HMRF, we expect the workload of the
Research Fund Secretariat will increase correspondingly. Based on the funding
experience of the existing Research Funds, the annual funding amount to be
committed for research under HMRF is expected to increase to about $250 million
per year on average (about three times the current average annual amount), and
the number of applications to be received and processed is correspondingly
expected to increase three-fold (from about 300 applications per year to 900
applications per year). To cope with the expected increase in workload, we plan
to augment the Secretariat by seven new non-directorate non-civil service staff
supporting the operation of HMRF on a full-time basis and three non-directorate
civil servants providing executive and clerical support for the Research Office
of FHB including the Research Fund Secretariat. The additional annual recurrent
cost required for the operation of HMRF is estimated to be $9 million from
2012-13 to 2016-17. This will be absorbed by FHB's provisions.
The direct operation costs for HMRF, estimated to be about $4 million per annum,
will be charged to HMRF. These include, for instance, meeting costs of the
Research Council and its constituent panels, boards and committees for members'
technical and advisory input to HMRF; publication of research dissemination
reports; maintenance of the operating system and website of HMRF; publicity,
training workshops and seminars; and expenses for other activities necessary to
support the operation of HMRF under the direction of the Research Council.
The details of the breakdown of future staff composition, the annual recurrent
costs and the direct operation costs are set out in Annex.
(f) Health and medical research and development is a key element of the
healthcare system. Health and medical research allows better insight into the
disease, maximises treatment outcome, improves quality of care and promotes
public health. The initial investment in research leads to a return in terms of
less disease, improved population health and in turn enhanced work productivity.
Investment in local health and medical research and development and availability
of facilities and resources for such purposes are also key factors that help
attract and retain talents, both local and overseas, essential to the
development of a hub for medical research and clinical excellence, and
supportive of a quality medical service sector. This would in turn engender a
positive impact on the development of medical services as one of our local
industries.
Ends/Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:38
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Annex