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The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) kicked off the International Conference on 'Health Care Reform: Asia-Pacific Experiences and Western Models' today. The two-day conference is one of the celebratory activities of its 20^th anniversary. Dr. York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong SAR Government, was invited to officiate at the opening ceremony this morning together with Prof. Joseph Sung, CUHK Vice-Chancellor and Prof. Fanny Cheung, HKIAPS Director and Chair of the Organizing Committee of the Conference. 

Health care is inextricably linked to every aspect of social and economic justice. As a consequence of population aging and socio-behavioral changes associated with globalization and urbanization, many health systems in the Asia-Pacific regions are facing major challenges due to mismatches between priority setting, fiscal allocations and health needs, and the widening inequality in the provision of health services. 

To cope with these demands, health care reforms have been launched in many Asia-Pacific economies. Many of them have emphasized fiscal arrangement to strengthen the sustainability of expenditure to ensure fair, equitable, and affordable health care services for every member in society. To what extent are these health reforms successful? How have they modified established western models of service delivery to cater to the needs of their own situation, given the enormous diversity in health status? These important questions were examined in the Conference. 

Twenty-four scholars, policy-makers, and experts from world-renowned universities, professional bodies, and governments presented papers at the Conference and shared their experiences of health care reform among various countries in the Asia-Pacific region, in order to promote international and interdisciplinary collaboration in developing effective and innovative strategies in reforming the health system for the local context. 

Established since 1990, HKIAPS has actively supported multidisciplinary research on social, political, and economic development of Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region to provide evidence-based knowledge for development of social policies. This International Conference will foster an up-to-date review on current challenges on health system reform and promote international exchanges among health care scholars and policy-makers. 

For more information about the Conference, please visit: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/hkiaps/20th_conference_events.html