SDG3 Good Health and Wellbeing
Background
HKU’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine plays a leading role in medical education, training and research, and is one of Asia's highest ranked 'Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health Universities' according to the Times Higher Education university rankings. Comprised of 14 departments, the faculty has a student population of about 4,400 and over 1000 academic and research-related staff. Throughout the years, leading researchers at HKU have greatly contributed to the public health and well-being of the regional community and beyond by developing methods to detect, monitor and prevent the spread of deadly diseases such as SARS, swine flu and MERS. HKU also collaborates with local, regional and global health institutions to fight communicable diseases and promote public health education through outreach programmes. The HKU Health System, which oversees four clinical enterprises, demonstrates the school’s commitment to education and innovation, and to performing high quality clinical research on a wide variety of diseases and clinical conditions through direct service provision to a vast patient base.
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of courses and research.
Teaching
134
courses
12,186
students enrolled
Research
819
papers (in 2017)
20%
of HKU students graduated
in health professions*
*Including graduates of all academic levels. Relevant disciplines include programmes and majors from Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Humanities & Medicine, Speech & Hearing, Medical Engineering, Psychology, Expressive Arts Therapy, Counselling, Food Science (Data of 2016-17)
Initiative
At the turn of the 21st century, Hong Kong was hit hard by epidemics including the H5N1, SARS and swine flu. The research efforts and knowledge sharing by the HKU Faculty of Medicine played an integral part in containing the spread of these diseases in the region and beyond. The team’s research led to improved detection and monitoring guidelines for H5N1 and the identification of the coronavirus in SARS, both of which helped to keep global outbreaks under control. Working in close collaboration with the government, the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, HKU has continued to make immense contributions to the understanding and prevention of other communicable diseases such as swine flu and recently MERS. In addition to fighting pandemics on the world stage, the team at the School of Public Health set out to make an impact closer to home by educating local youth on good hygiene practices in a program called “Little Dr. Flu”.
Through hygiene talks, laboratory visits and hands-on experiments, students from primary and secondary schools are taught how the flu is spread, and the importance of vaccinations. This program trains students to become ambassadors in their communities, further extending the impact of hygiene education.
Operations
With tens of thousands of students and staff associated with the HKU community, the university prides itself in being a responsible and equal-opportunity provider in health services. HKU ensures access to reproductive, sexual, maternal, newborn and child health services and well-being through the Well Woman Clinic, general consultations, sex education, maternity and paternity leave and support, on-campus breastfeeding facilities and health care for employees and their families.
The university also provides pragmatic health care to its students and staff through University Health Service. Meanwhile, ongoing programs such as the Active Health Clinic by the Centre for Sports and Exercise, and counselling and workshops by CEDARS promote and facilitate both physical and mental well-being.
The University of Hong Kong supports the prevention and treatment of substance and alcohol abuse with a strict smoke-free campus policy, smoking cessation hotline and education on the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption.