HEALTH
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Specialist facilities are available in the major centres in the urban areas and, in the New Territories, the same facilities are provided by visiting teams from Hong Kong and Kowloon. Mobile dis- pensaries and floating clinics take medical services to the more remote areas of the New Territories, especially the isolated villages on the eastern and western coasts. The flying doctor service which enables doctors and nurses to visit remote areas of the New Ter- ritories was temporarily interrupted during the year due to lack of helicopters, but was resumed in September.
The Medical Clinics Ordinance, 1963, provides for the control of medical clinics in order to protect the public from exploitation in so-called charity clinics where the service provided is below an acceptable standard. Implementation of the ordinance, which was brought into effect in 1964, continued and by the end of the year 466 clinics had been registered. Throughout the year the clinics were regularly inspected and advice given to the unregistered doctors practising in them. In June an Advisory Committee on Clinics was appointed by the Governor to review the operation of the ordinance, particularly in respect of clinics registered with exemption, and to make recommendations for the future.
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DENTAL SERVICES
The government dental service undertakes complete dental care for all monthly-paid government officers and their families, and offers a limited treatment programme for inpatients of government hospitals, prisoners and inmates of training centres. The service also provides emergency treatment for the general public at certain clinics. There are 30 government dental clinics and a mobile unit serving the New Territories.
Fluoridation of Hong Kong's urban water supply began in 1961 and most of the population now receives water which has been treated with sodium fluoride or sodium silico-fluoride. The rate of enrichment is 0.7 parts of fluoride per million in summer and 0.9 parts per million during winter. It is anticipated that this measure will bring about a marked reduction in the prevalence of dental caries, particularly among children, in the future.
Many voluntary bodies and welfare organizations, particularly the Hong Kong Dental Society and the St John Ambulance Brigade,