Child's Health

Being a parent, the health of your child should be your top concern. You can make use of a comprehensive range of public medical services and educational resources to help your child stay healthy and deal with any developmental or behavioural problems.

Integrated Child Health and Development Programme

Taking care of your little ones is never an easy job. There are different areas you need to pay attention to in their early stages of development. The Maternal and Child Health Centres offer an Integrated Child Health and Development Programme to promote holistic (physical, cognitive, emotional and social) health among children. The programme provides immunisation and developmental surveillance for children, as well as parenting workshops and individual counselling sessions for parents.

Student Health Service

The Service aims to safeguard both the physical and psychological health of school children through various health programmes, enabling them to gain maximum benefit from the education system and develop their full potentials.

School Dental Care Service

The Service is a basic dental health care programme for all primary school children in Hong Kong aiming to promote good oral hygiene and prevent common dental diseases. Dedicated and well-trained dental therapists will provide the service based on the advice of Government dental officers. You can also learn more about taking care of your kids' teeth from the website of Tooth Club.

Developmental and Behavioural Problems

Common childhood developmental problems include attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, language delay, developmental delay, mental retardation, developmental coordination disorder, cerebral palsy, as well as visual and hearing impairment. Children with developmental or behavioural problems need proper assessment and rehabilitation advice from multidisciplinary experts.

Children suspected of having developmental problems, with referral from a registered doctor or psychologist, can register and make an appointment at any Child Assessment Centres under the Department of Health. Comprehensive specialised assessments are conducted for these children, and rehabilitation plans are formulated for them. Meanwhile, families in need can seek help through counselling, health advice and interim support activities.

Pre-school Rehabilitation Services

A comprehensive range of rehabilitation services for children from birth to under 6 years old, who have not yet started primary schooling, with disabilities or at risk of becoming disabled.  These services aim to enhance the children’s physical, psychological and social developments, increase their opportunities of attending ordinary school and participating daily activities, as well as help their families to meet their special needs.

Disabled children assessed by paediatrician, clinical psychologist, educational psychologist or other qualified professionals¹ as recognised by Social Welfare Department (SWD) to be in need of rehabilitation services can be referred to the Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services of the SWD to waitlist the recommended rehabilitation services which are subvented by SWD and operated by non-governmental organisations, including Early Education and Training Centre, Integrated Programme in Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centre, Special Child Care Centre and On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS).  Service teams of OPRS also provide Tier 1 Support Services for children awaiting assessment by Child Assessment Centres (CACs) or assessed by CACs to have borderline developmental problems, etc. Eligible children waiting for subvented pre-school rehabilitation services may apply to SWD for training subsidy under the Training Subsidy Programme for Children on the Waiting List of Subvented Pre-school Rehabilitation Services to acquire self-financed pre-school rehabilitation services provided by recognised service providers as early as possible so as to facilitate their learning and development.

(¹Other qualified professionals include medical officer of the Child Psychiatry Department under Hospital Authority and medical doctor in private practice who is on the Specialist Register for Psychiatry under the Medical Council of Hong Kong)

Travelling with Your Child

If you are going to travel with your child, you should also take note of some common health issues such as dealing with travellers’ diarrhea and special arrangements for your child during air travel. Depending on your destination, you may also need to give your child additional vaccinations and take special precautions against malaria. All these preparations will help you enjoy a pleasant trip with your child.