Healthcare

In line with its administrative guideline of building a quality society, the Macao SAR Government maintains its policy of “A sound healthcare system, putting prevention first” and is committed to improving medical and healthcare quality and safeguarding the health of the public.

There are three hospitals and one day hospital in Macao and 675 clinics that provide primary healthcare, among which 456 (67.6 percent) are private clinics. In addition, there are 243 Chinese medicine clinics and treatment centres.

Medical and health services providers in Macao are classified as Governmental or non-governmental. The former includes Government Health Centres for primary healthcare and Conde S. Januario Hospital, which provides specialists medical services. The latter includes medical entities subsidised by the Government and other institutions, such as Kiang Wu Hospital, the university Hospital, the Workers’ Clinic and Tung Sin Tong Clinic, as well as various private clinics and laboratories. Most medical services provided by Government Health Centres and Tung Sin Tong Clinic are basically free of charge.

A Sound Primary Healthcare Network

To realise the objective of “Health for All” advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Health Bureau has established Health Centres throughout the territory. The completion of a primary health care network with Health Centres as its operational units offers all Macao residents easy access to primary health care services in their own neighbourhoods.

At present, there are six Health Centres and two Health Stations distributed throughout the different districts of Macao. Among them, the Fai Chi Kei and Areia Preta health centres are also equipped with traditional Chinese medicine clinics. All Health Centres provide prenatal care, family planning, children’s healthcare, adult healthcare, oral healthcare, student healthcare, health education and Traditional Chinese Medicine services.

The free healthcare services provided by Health Centres also include family visits, referral, vaccination, medical social work, mental health care, quit-smoking consultation, and other nursing services. All legal residents of Macao, regardless of their age or occupation, are entitled to free services at Health Centres and supplementary check ups at Conde S. Januario Hospital by referral from Health Centres.

Macao has established a sound primary healthcare network based on Government Health Centres - considered a model practice by the WHO.

Medical and Health Resources

The Macao Government devotes considerable resources to medical and healthcare. In 2012, the Government’s budget for medical and health case was about 4.01 billion patacas, an increase of 6.1 percent of 3.78 billion patacas over 2011.

In 2012, the three hospitals received 1.371 million outpatients, including 430,000 outpatients admitted to the emergency wards. In 2012, the general mortality rate was 3.4 per thousand residents, while the mortality rate for infants under one year old was 2.9 per thousand live births. Maternal mortality rate remained at zero. The average life expectancy in Macao is 82.4 years (2009-2012). The figure is on par with those of developed countries.

According to the ICD-10-CM classification system (International Classification of Disease, Tenth Edition, Clinical Modification), malignant tumours were the biggest cause of death in Macao, while diseases of the circulatory diseases and respiratory diseases ranked second and third, respectively.  In 2012, these three categories accounted for 30.9 percent, 27.1 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively, of all deaths during the year.

Perfecting the Healthcare System

In order to improve the standard of Macao’s healthcare system, the MSAR Government adopts a policy by “first improving, then reforming” the system. Through operations conducted by the Healthcare Reform Advisory Committee, a series of medical reform projects have promoted and deepened the healthcare system. A Medical Activities and Complaints Assessment Centre has also been established to mediate and handle any medical disputes.

The Health Bureau has been fully implementing different healthcare and social welfare policies, which include extending the working hours of health centres, introducing advanced medical devices, improving facilities and infrastructure of Conde S. Januario Hospital and other health centres, shortening waiting time for medical consultations, and optimising and reforming medical services.

In 2008, the Government has strengthened its cooperation with non-governmental medical service providers, to fully utilise community health resources. A medical subsidy scheme has been launched for the very first time, in an attempt to promote the use of private medical practices within the community.

In order to speed up the progress and development of Macao’s healthcare system, the Government has also signed cooperation agreements with the mainland on food safety, quarantine and inspection, development of traditional Chinese medicine, drug supervision and management, and medical education and training.

The Government has strengthened its mechanism on disease prevention and control, and enhanced the Law on Prevention and Treatment of Communicable Diseases and related regulations and ancillary measures to handle different health threats. It has also enhanced inter-departmental cooperation mechanism and capacity to tackle new forms of pandemic influenza, based on its experience in coping with dengue fever, avian flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome and H1N1 swine flu.

Macao’s Three Hospitals

Conde S. Januario Hospital

Conde S. Januario Hospital is a modern Government medical institution with advanced and comprehensive facilities. It has 86 departments including Inpatient, Outpatient, Emergency and other specialists departments. According to Health Bureau’s statistics for 2012, there were 623 beds in 14 specialist departments. Its bed occupancy rate was 85.7 percent, and patients stayed in the hospital for an average of 9.47 days

According to Health Bureau’s statistics for 2012, Conde S. Januario Hospital had 287 doctors and 763 nurses. There were a total of 740 beds; 623 in its Inpatient Department and 117 in its Outpatient Department. The Hospital treated 347,934 outpatients, 29,717 day clinic patients, 263,080 emergency cases and 18,274 inpatients in 2011. The Psychiatric Centre of Conde S. Januario Hospital has 126 beds, 81 of which are for inpatients and 45 for outpatients. During 2012, it accepted 1,271 new adult psychiatric outpatient cases.

Conde S. Januario Hospital provides free medical services for expectant mothers, new mothers, children under 10, primary and secondary school students, teachers and other school staff, patients suffering from infectious diseases, people with malignant tumours, drug addicts, the mentally ill, prisoners, civil servants, people aged 65 and above, people who hold proof of financial difficulty and inability to pay for medical services issued by Conde S. Januario Hospital, people holding Certificates of Indigence issued by the Social Welfare Bureau, and Macao permanent residents who hold Disability Assessment Cards.

Kiang Wu Hospital

Kiang Wu Hospital is a non-governmental medical and health institution administered by the Kiang Wu Hospital Charitable Association of Macao. Established in 1871, it has a 137-year history as a charitable hospital founded and operated by Chinese people. Kiang Wu Hospital has now developed into a modern and all-inclusive hospital. In 2012, it had a staff of 1,773, including 323 doctors, 542 nurses, 288 technicians and 620 health workers.

Kiang Wu Hospital has an emergency department and three outpatient departments. During 2012, its outpatient departments treated over 1.18 million patients, an average of 3,602 per day. Its emergency department treated over 160,000 patients, an average of around 455 per day. A total of 28,000 patients were discharged from the hospital during the year. In 2012, Taipa Medical Centre received 126,000 patients seeking emergency and outpatient services, an average of 383 patients per day. The Dr. Henry Y. T. Fok Specialist Medical Center was inaugurated in August 2009.

University Hospital

Established in March 2006, the University Hospital is an institution under the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) Foundation. It is an integrated, modern hospital that serves as the clinical and teaching base for the Faculty of Chinese Medicine and Faculty of Health Sciences of the MUST. The hospital has a team of local professional medial staff and medical consultants from overseas, mainland China and Hong Kong. The Inpatient Department has 60 beds; double rooms, single rooms and luxury rooms are available.