Health, vaccinations and medical care in Hong Kong

Insurance is not optional

• Hong Kong hospitals are excellent and, for an uninsured visitor, expensive. Public hospitals charge non-residents a high non-eligible-person rate, and private ones charge private rates.
• Take insurance covering treatment and repatriation, and carry the policy number somewhere you can find it without a phone.
• Doctors speak English, and the standard of care is as high as anywhere in the region.

Medicines

• Some medicines sold freely at home are controlled here. Anything containing codeine, strong painkillers and some sedatives need care.
• Carry prescriptions in their original packaging with the prescription itself. A prescription written abroad does not automatically authorise use in Hong Kong.
• CBD is a dangerous drug, not a supplement - see the safety section. This is the single most common medicine mistake made at this border.
• Pharmacies are everywhere, and a registered pharmacy has a pharmacist on duty behind a counter, not just a shop assistant.

Day to day

• Tap water is treated to WHO standards and safe to drink. Many locals still boil it out of habit for the plumbing in older buildings, not the supply.
• The heat is the real health risk in summer - hot and very humid from May to September, with a heat index that makes midday walking genuinely dangerous for the unacclimatised.
• Air quality varies with wind direction and can be poor for days at a time. If you are asthmatic, check the Air Quality Health Index before planning a long walk.
• Dial 999 for an ambulance. It is free to call and the service is fast.