The Government proposes to set up a trust fund for SARS-affected families with a one-off injection of $130 million, Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong says.

"The SARS outbreak earlier this year was unique and unprecedented. This was a major epidemic caused by a new virus and of proportions not seen in modern Hong Kong history," Dr Yeoh said.

"It was a tragic incident and the Government fully symphathises with the plight of the patients and their family members. The Hospital Authority and the Social Welfare Department have been rendering support and assistance to the patients and families. The trust fund is part of our continuous effort to provide care and support."

The Social Welfare Department, for example, had contacted all families of the 299 deceased SARS patients to identify and address their needs for assistance. The department was providing support to 449 recovered SARS patients, with 286 through family service centres/integrated family service centres and 163 by medical social workers.

The special ex-gratia assistance would be provided on compassionate grounds to eligible applicants. They include:

* family members of those victims who died of SARS; and

* patients who recovered from SARS but still suffer from longer term effects, attributable to SARS, that may result in physical or psychological dysfunction, subject to medical proof and demonstrated financial need.

To be eligible, the SARS victims must have been Hong Kong residents who were infected with during the outbreak in Hong Kong from March to June this year.

For families of  deceased patients, the amount of special ex-gratia relief payments would be determined having regard to the dependent members involved. 

Recovered patients' needs to be assessed on case-by-case basis

The special ex-gratia financial assistance for patients recovered from SARS would have to be considered on a case-by-case basis having regard to the attending doctors' assessment and the medical social workers' advice.

As it would take the Hospital Authority time to observe those who recovered from SARS to identify the likely types of longer term effects, a certain sum would be earmarked for this group to provide a buffer that may be used to cater for contingencies as more medical knowledge is gained.

The application and processing procedure would be made as simple as possible. The details would be announced after funding support approval has been obtained from the Legislative Council's Finance Committee. The Administration aims to seek this approval in November. 

Social Welfare to set up team to support fund's operations

The Social Welfare Department will set up a core team to support the operations of the trust fund and oversee the follow-up support services for the SARS-affected families, Dr Yeoh said.

Apart from financial support, Dr Yeoh said the department and the Hospital Authority, together with non-governmental organisations, would continue to work closely to provide support services to the family members of the deceased SARS patients and the recovered SARS patients.

The authority was inviting all recovered SARS patients to have a check of their physical and psychological well-being, and then helping them through appropriate rehabilitation programmes. The welfare department would take this opportunity to assess the patients' psychosocial wellness to identify any further needs for referral to appropriate services such as counselling.