Bridging the Greater Bay Area Through Healthcare Collaboration: Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation Leads Hong Kong-Macao Delegation to Explore New Advances in Gene Therapy for Thalassaemia

On 30 January, the Nansha Hospital of Guangzhou First People's Hospital hosted the Gene Therapy Exchange Forum, welcoming an important delegation of healthcare stakeholders from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The event not only showcased the latest clinical achievements in gene therapy for thalassaemia, but also marked an important step in Greater Bay Area healthcare collaboration, moving from conceptual alignment towards the establishment of practical cooperation mechanisms.

Among the participating stakeholders, the Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation (HHSCF) played a particularly significant role. Through its active participation, clear agenda-setting approach and strong cross-sector coordination capabilities, the Foundation served as a driving force in building consensus and facilitating implementation, helping to pave the way for future cross-border clinical collaboration.

Driving Purposeful Dialogue Through a Collaborative Agenda

The delegation brought together healthcare professionals, patient organisations and representatives from institutions across Hong Kong and Macao, including the Cooley's Anaemia Foundation (Hong Kong), the Hong Kong Thalassaemia Association, the Rare Disease Hong Kong Alliance (RDHK), and Mr. Mak Ka Yan, Samuel Co-founder of the Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation.

While the hospital provided the advanced clinical platform and technological expertise, the Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation acted as a catalyst in bringing together diverse concerns and transforming them into a set of common priorities. From treatment standards and long-term disease management to cross-border care coordination and healthcare support systems, the Foundation helped connect patient needs, clinical practice and policy considerations. As a result, the exchange extended far beyond a hospital visit and became a practical discussion focused on one central question: how can collaboration be effectively implemented?

In this sense, the Foundation's contribution went beyond participation. Its strength lies in translating complex cross-border healthcare challenges into actionable topics for discussion. How can patient referrals be coordinated? How can medical technologies and expertise be shared? How should long-term follow-up care be managed? How can patient safety and regulatory compliance be aligned across jurisdictions? These are precisely the issues that determine whether innovative therapies can move from pilot projects to widespread patient access.

A Patient-Centred Approach: Transforming Personal Stories into a Shared Mission

A highlight of the event was the participation of individuals who had undergone gene therapy, sharing their personal recovery journeys and the life-changing impact of treatment. While emotionally powerful, this segment also served as one of the most effective forms of communication in cross-border healthcare collaboration.

When treatment outcomes and safety management are demonstrated through real patient experiences, healthcare providers, researchers, clinicians and patient advocacy groups are better able to build trust, confidence and a shared sense of purpose.

For many years, the Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation has worked closely with communities and healthcare professionals, gaining deep insight into the challenges faced by individuals with rare diseases and chronic conditions, including information gaps, treatment accessibility and long-term care burdens. In forums such as this, the Foundation plays a vital role in ensuring that the patient voice remains at the centre of clinical and policy discussions.

Ultimately, the goal of innovative therapies is not merely technological advancement, but ensuring that patients can access, afford and confidently benefit from those innovations.

Advancing Cooperation Through a Cross-Border Platform

Accompanied by Hospital President Professor Dai Qishan, Director Wang Shunqing of the Department of Haematology, and their team, delegates toured the hospital's Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapy Centre, laminar-flow wards and international medical service platform.

Representatives from Hong Kong and Macao expressed strong recognition of the hospital's achievements in thalassaemia gene therapy and demonstrated keen interest in extending these advances to patients across Hong Kong and Macao through cross-border clinical cooperation.

At this stage, the importance of the Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation once again became evident. Beyond connecting medical experts, patient organisations and advocacy networks, the Foundation also helps facilitate dialogue on institutional and policy interfaces. These include patient referral pathways, mutual recognition of clinical data, follow-up care arrangements and support frameworks, helping to transform collaborative intentions into sustainable mechanisms.

The exchange was further enriched by insights from Professor Raymond Wong Siu Ming of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, who shared Hong Kong's experience in thalassaemia prevention and management. This broadened the discussion from treatment alone to encompass the entire continuum of care, including prevention, screening and long-term disease management.

Within this comprehensive dialogue, the Foundation served as a coordinator, linking Hong Kong's experience in public health education, patient empowerment and community support with the Mainland's clinical expertise, technological capabilities and policy advantages, thereby contributing to more integrated healthcare development across the Greater Bay Area.

Building a Greater Bay Area Health Community Through Connection and Leadership

Nansha Hospital outlined its vision of leveraging national policies supporting gene therapy innovation to establish a cross-border platform for healthcare collaboration, research translation and technology sharing, ultimately contributing to the development of a Greater Bay Area Health Community.

Turning this vision into reality will require more than the efforts of any single hospital or city. It demands collaborative leadership capable of bridging different healthcare systems and maintaining long-term consensus-building. The Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation demonstrated such leadership through three key dimensions:

• Cross-sector collaboration: Connecting healthcare professionals, patient groups, community resources and public policy stakeholders.

• Cross-border coordination: Facilitating a common language and shared understanding between Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China on clinical collaboration, follow-up care and patient support.

• Public value creation: Ensuring that discussions around innovative therapies remain focused on accessibility, affordability and sustainability for patients.

  
  

Conclusion: Bringing Advanced Therapies from the Laboratory to the Community

The Gene Therapy Exchange Forum serves as a meaningful example of what is possible when healthcare stakeholders work together. It not only highlighted the latest clinical progress and safety management approaches associated with thalassaemia gene therapies, including emerging treatments such as KL003, but also opened new possibilities for healthcare collaboration within the Greater Bay Area.

The deep involvement of the Hong Kong Health and Social Care Foundation helped make the exchange more focused, practical and patient-centred. By acting as a bridge among stakeholders, the Foundation transformed dialogue into actionable directions for cooperation and continues to champion the transition from simple exchanges to meaningful co-development.

Looking ahead, as more institutional barriers are removed and more cross-border collaboration models mature, innovative gene therapies will be better positioned to benefit a greater number of thalassaemia patients. Such developments have the potential to deliver higher-quality, more equitable and more personalised healthcare services to communities across the Greater Bay Area.