It is a bitter truth that Hong Kong (HK) has failed its ethnic minorities in so many ways.

Asia’s global city HK is the most densely populated with over half a million non-Chinese people living here. It has the highest life expectancy in the world and so is the level of inequality among ethnic minorities soaring high too.

The ethnic minorities have a large share of contribution to the development of HK. The iconic Star Ferry in HK was first started by an ethnic minority and so was the Ruttonjee Hospital. The Sikh and Nepalese Gurkha communities played an important role in protecting HK.

Ethnicity is a multidimensional concept with numerous links to health. There is a wide range of factors creating a condition of day-to-day living including the surrounding environment or the local context that the ethnic minorities live in that shape their health outcomes. Embracing diversity, and cultural differences brings about a boost in local economies and recognising the role of ethnicity can have a bigger impact on improving population health.

It has become a hard-to-swallow truth that the health disparity among ethnic minorities is widening as we speak. The opulent city HK with all the riches and resources to keep its crown of being Asia’s global city needs a strong political will to address health disparity among ethnic groups. A common stereotyping as “lazy” or “reluctant” subtly points to a large number of the ethnic population in HK that appears to be creating a hurdle in the social integration of these marginalised groups. But how serious is HK in addressing these issues?

The health system in HK has come a long way since the colonial period and yet HK faces a hard battle in healthcare reform today. Unsurprisingly, the health of the local population was not a high priority during colonial government. People mostly went to private practitioners not until 1962 when the colonial government implemented subsidized medical care for the local population in an attempt to prevent infectious diseases from going out of control. The private system has been left unchecked ever since the colonial period. Long neglected primary care and a laissez-faire attitude to the private sector has been key issue that makes the system fragmented.

In recent years, closing the health inequity gap among ethnic minorities has become a hot topic of discussion and several efforts are being launched in an attempt to improve their health outcomes. The JCSATH and some other projects in HK have started this noble cause of improving health literacy and access to healthcare services for the ethnic minorities living in HK. The health needs of ethnic minorities are being recognised and concerted efforts are being placed to close the health disparity gap.

Ethnic minorities deserve the ‘Right to Health’ and the recognition for the contributions they have made to prosperous HK. Let’s give it to them!

[The blog content is the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Jockey Club S.A.T.H. Project for Healthy Families. The author is responsible for the accuracy of the post.]