Healthcare equipment suppliers have set their sights beyond the GBA

Wallis Wang

The government is being asked to help so that Hong Kong’s medical supplies used in the Greater Bay Area can be made available in other mainland cities.

Lydia Leung Lap-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong Medical and Healthcare Device Industries Association, made the call yesterday as around 300 exhibitors from around the world prepared to showcase their latest medical products at the Hong Kong International Medical and Healthcare Fair Thursday to Saturday.

The three-day fair, organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the association, will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Currently, locally registered medicines and medical devices used in public hospitals can also be used in GBA hospitals to treat Hong Kong patients living there. However, the devices still must obtain registration from the National Medical Products Administration before they can be used outside the Bay.

Leung said her association aims to apply new technologies to the SAR and bring them to the Bay and beyond.

“We maintain good communication with various (HK) government departments, with the aim of expediting NMPA registration for devices used safely in the GBA,” she said.

Leung said the policy of introducing local medical products to the mainland is crucial.

“If we can prove to people that medical equipment developed in Hong Kong and used in local public hospitals can be introduced to such a large (mainland) market, it will provide incentives for innovative companies to develop products in the SAR” , she explained.

Leung added that her association has also been in close communication with more than ten consulates to bring the most advanced technology to the city, which they can use as a base to enter the Asian market.

She also said the city has potential for gerontechnology as the elderly choose to stay at home rather than in hospitals after the pandemic.

The devices can help doctors understand a patient’s condition, while the screening equipment can help prevent the elderly from developing serious diseases.

Leung, who is also CEO of Belun Technology, will take her company’s product – a wearable ring that collects patients’ data during sleep – to the stock market.

With permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the ring can analyze data using artificial intelligence and help doctors diagnose sleep apnea, she said.

Also on display at the fair is the Cardiax Home: a portable screening device developed by local company Sramek Insight, which has high sensitivity and accuracy and can warn of real-time cardiovascular risk.

The fair will also showcase the first locally made orthopedic joint replacement robot developed by Yuanhua Robotics, Perception & AI Technologies.