Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau on Sunday said primary healthcare is an "investment" that could bring a 30 percent reduction in public healthcare expenditure over the course of a few decades.

The government recently announced a blueprint for shifting the focus of the public healthcare system from treatment to the prevention of illness.

Speaking on a television programme, the health chief said he expects the government will meet half the cost of medical bills for those seeking a diagnosis and will place management of certain chronic diseases under the “chronic disease co-care programme”.

Lo said the scheme would initially focus on hypertension and diabetes, explaining that while a million people are currently taking medication for such diseases, another million have probably not been diagnosed.

"A third of the patients already have complications, including strokes, heart disease or kidney failure, before they detect the illness," Lo said. "These require specialised medications. If we can diagnose chronic diseases quickly, there will be fewer people requiring such medications after five to ten years."

Asked about the cost of the scheme, Lo said it was a programme worth investing in, as it would probably bring a 30 percent reduction in public healthcare expenditure after 30 years.

He added that he expects 200,000 people to join the scheme in its first year, and that authorities would expand the scheme to cover other chronic diseases in the future.

The health chief also said Hong Kong would push forward discussions on setting up a mechanism for the sharing of donated organs with the mainland.

Lo said the recent case of a four-month-old girl who underwent a heart transplant with a heart donated from the mainland could be a "breakthrough" for the sharing of organs.