Key facts
- Hong Kong will review the age threshold for elderly welfare services.
- The review follows the discovery of a 70-year-old man and his 78-year-old wife, both deceased.
- The couple were not receiving social worker visits because they were under the age of 80.
- The current policy targets elderly residents aged 80 and above for welfare visits.
- The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun Yuk-han, stated the need to optimize big data for better identification of priority care targets.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun Yuk-han, has announced a review of the age threshold for elderly welfare services after a recent tragedy. A 70-year-old man and his 78-year-old wife were found dead in their home, but were not eligible for targeted social worker visits because they were both under the age of 80.
Sun stated that the couple were not included for visits or follow-up by social workers as they did not meet the criteria based on the Housing Authority's household register, which typically identifies the elderly needy aged 80 or above. He described the incident as a tragedy and pledged to ask his colleagues to follow up on the case.