Sleep Medicine in Hong Kong – Development, Knowledge Gaps and Future Challenges

The development of sleep medicine in Hong Kong has often been driven by clinical needs. The 1980s saw a surge of interest in sleep apnoea and brought multiple specialties together to study the diagnosis and management of sleep-related breathing disorders. Sleep and mood disorders often go hand in hand. With circadian disruption and sleep deprivation impacting the general population, including our paediatric age groups, the lack of quality sleep is a public health concern. Unfortunately, training in sleep medicine has been fragmented from undergraduate curricula to specialty training requirements. Sleep service standardisation is just beginning, although progress has been slow. Due to the lack of a specialty board, the Hong Kong Society of Sleep Medicine is providing a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration especially in training and education for both healthcare professionals and the general public, while the university-affiliated departments will provide the lead for multi-disciplinary research.