Founded in 1981, the Hong Kong Geriatrics Society is the only professional society of doctors practicing geriatric medicine. All Consultant Geriatricians and Professor in Geriatric Medicine in Public Hospitals are regular members of our society. There are up to now 180 members with 42 associate members in the Hong Kong Geriatrics Society. Geriatricians are responsible for the management of acute and chronic illnesses, severe disability and terminal conditions in elderly people.
Objectives
To promote high standards of care in the practice of geriatric medicine
To promote training and care of the elderly to all persons practicing geriatric medicine
To promote geriatric research
The Hong Kong elderly population aged 65+ has risen from 4.5% of the total population in 1971 to 12.5% in 2007 with a number of 871.4 thousand, and this is expected to rise to 24% by 2031. The corresponding growth for the population aged 75+ is even steeper. Curently,there are five and a half times as many people over 75 as there were 30 years ago, and this age group will triple by 2031. Since the prevalence of illness and disability rises with age, the growth of the elderly population, particularly those in the older-old group (75+) has important implications for health and social services.
Geriatric medicine originated in the United Kingdom 70 years ago out of a reaction to neglect and apathy of elderly patients thought not to be amenable to medical treatment and thus obliged to spend their last years in chronic infirmaries. The specialty of geriatric medicine has continued to grow and an impressive knowledge base has been accumulated. This combined with increasing expertise in the multidisciplinary treatment and assessment of elderly patients and in ensuring that health and social services work in a coordinated fashion, has improved the care of ill elderly people.
For the past 30 years, more than 160 specialists in geriatric medicine have been trained up in Hong Kong to meet the local service needs.
The year 2011 celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Geriatrics Society.
We are preparing ourselves to deal with the challenges faced by the ageing community.
If my memory train hasn't gone astray, It was Dr Ernest H C Tam, secretary of the Society, who proposed to have a logo to intensify the Society's image in a council meeting in 1983. The proposal was unanimously passed and the prize was a tenth gram Krugarrand gold coin donated by Dr CHAN Sik.
As a physician with special interest in art and design, I submitted my work which is in arcs and circles to the Society in early 1984. An elderly, holding on to the staff of the serpent, symbol of Medicine, is in the arms of the Geriatrician whose holistic management from acute going right through to the end is illustrated. I was indeed privileged to have it accepted though it was the one and only
design submitted to the society without a good competition. As a finishing touch, a chignon was added to the head of the elderly by the order of Dr YY Ng, the President and my former boss of course. The Krugarrand was passed into my hands from Dr CHAN Sik at the AGM of 1984 in the Furama Hotel. Within weeks the sale of Krugarrand was banded as part of the embargo on the then South African government for its apartheid policy. While the coin has been staying out of my sight in my bank's safety envelope for the past 15 years, I am delighted that the logo is well serving its function into the next millennium.