The Health Bureau (SSM) announced yesterday that it will raise the fees by 800 percent, or ninefold, for its childbirth services at the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre, starting from June 1, for non-local women whose husbands are also non-locals.
The bureau said that the drastic fee hike aimed to reduce the number of non-local women using the public hospital’s childbirth services, in order to ensure a better service for their local counterparts.
According to the bureau, low-income non-resident workers (NRWs) can apply for reduced childbirth fees at the public hospital – a third of the new fees for other NRWs.
Health Bureau (SSM) Deputy Director Ho Ioc San (left) and Daniel Tang Yuk Wa, who heads the Family and Community Services Department of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), address yesterday’s press conference about the government’s childbirth fee hike for non-locals, at the Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre. Photo: GCS
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