20,000 middle-aged Hongkongers can benefit from university programme offering free health screenings for chronic diseases

South China Morning Post 28/11/2023

More than 20,000 Hongkongers aged between 35 and 59 can benefit from a local university programme offering free health screenings for chronic diseases and personalised health coaching for those at high risk.

In a trial that kicked off in April, the Jockey Club We WATCH Healthy Lifestyle Project launched by Chinese University (CUHK) found that a third of more than 6,700 people from the age group were at high risk of developing chronic illnesses.

“In Hong Kong’s population health survey conducted between 2014 and 2020, we noticed an increase in chronic diseases among people reaching middle age,” said Professor Samuel Wong Yeung-shan, director of the university’s public health and primary care school.

“We realised that people need to take some actions when they reach middle age to prevent high risks of chronic illnesses.”
Wong said the project was Hong Kong’s first public health initiative to adopt lifestyle medicine in preventing chronic diseases.

“We know that it is not easy to make lifestyle changes when you spend so much time at work every day,” he said. “It is not effective to simply ask people to eat healthier and exercise more without knowing about their day-to-day lives.