Hong Kong to Review Elderly Age Threshold for Welfare Visits After Tragedy

Hong Kong will review the age threshold of elderly residents in need to better identify priority cases and prevent more tragedies from happening, the welfare chief has vowed following the latest suicide by an elderly resident.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han made the pledge on Saturday after a 70-year-old man was found hanging in his flat in Lai King Estate the day before.

Police said the man’s wife, 78, was found unconscious in the bedroom with her head covered by a quilt. They were subsequently certified dead after being discovered by their daughter, who rushed them to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung. The man’s case was listed as an attempted suicide.

Sun said the couple were not included for targeted visits or follow-up by social workers as they were both aged under 80 based on the Housing Authority (HA) household register.

“It was indeed a tragedy. But they had not been covered for welfare visits by social workers, who usually identify the elderly needy aged 80 or above in the HA’s household register,” he told a radio programme.

“I’ll ask my colleagues to follow up this case. In the future, we’ll optimise the big data to see if we need to reduce the age threshold to cover more elderly needy as our priority care targets.”