Thanks to the vision of Dr. FRANCOIS FONG, Hong Kong has its very own, world-class sexual health centre.
Neo-Health was born in 2007 in a 300sq ft commercial building in Central.
“At that time there were no other companies providing such services in Hong Kong,” says founder Francois Fong. “When I lived in Melbourne, the city had a sexual health centre, as did Sydney. I believed Hong Kong, being an international city, should also have one of its own.”
Future is ‘Now’!
Most people did not understand the concept of sexual health. Patients with sexual health issues visited urologists, gynecologists, dermatologists, the Family Planning Association, Government Social Hygiene centres, Kowloon Bay HIV Centre, and various counselling services for psychology-related issues.
“Because sexual issues involved not only physical but also psychological and relationship problems, none of the establishments offered the full range and scope of services for both male and females,” explains Fong.
“Initially over 90% of our patients were Westerners. Now the proportion is roughly 50:50 Westerners and local Chinese. Around 15% of our clients come from aboard, mostly from China.
“Through education, more people understand the need for sexual health and are more direct in seeking services. Patients are often very anxious in waiting for their results especially for tests such as HIV. It used to take 2-3 days. Much of the time was wasted in logistics including taking blood samples, and waiting for couriers to collect them for laboratory analysis. The results had to be checked, printed, then hand-delivered to our centre. In light of these challenges, we established our own in-house medical laboratory in 2009. The turnaround time has been significantly reduced to a same day result. Even for a molecular DNA test, the turnaround time has lessened from 3-5 days to the next day. For HIV patients, samples had to be flown to the US which took around 3 weeks for processing.”
Quick Results
“One of our main breakthroughs was the installation of the first WHO approved CD4 counter in Hong Kong. This helped reduce turnaround time to the same day, providing huge advantages for patients at the point of initial confirmation and those who have traveled from aboard.
“Having an in-house laboratory service also provides further privacy and confidentiality. Apart from providing testing services for our patients, we are also processing samples from University research programs and for some NGOs. In the area of sexual dysfunction, we are the only centre in Hong Kong to provide a full range of physical, psychological and relationship therapy.
“We differentiate ourselves by having a team of international experts in the field, from sexual health physicians, sex therapists, relationship counsellors and psychologists. The key factor that distinguishes us from other services is our recognition by, and collaboration with local and international universities in research and teaching, and local NGOs providing services to marginalized groups such as sex workers, the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) and PLWH (People Living with HIV) communities. The social connection provides us a deeper understanding of the needs of communities we serve and enables us to support each other in a variety of ways.
“I believe our patients/clients value our commitment to providing a friendly and non-judgmental environment, as sexual issues are a very private and intimate matter for people. Most of our professional staff are graduates from overseas universities and are trilingual. We are no strangers to multi-cultural societies and social diversity.
“In 2014 we expanded our services to include executive health screening with the opening of our Neo Health Screening and Specialist Centre. In addition, we offer corporate wellness programs that further utilize our expertise in providing holistic care to premium clients.
“Currently, our major obstacles include finding appropriately trained professionals who share the same vision and openness toward sexual issues. In this regard, we are in the process of liaising with professional groups and universities in order to run more training programs. I believe our success comes from our commitment to provide client-centered, high quality and timely services.”
For additional information please visit www.neohealth.com.hk
