HEALTH
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Lotteries Fund, and is a study programme for three years. The immediate aim of the scheme is to discover if local drug addicts can adapt to taking methadone instead of opium or heroin, and if not, why not. Patients are accepted on a first come first served basis. On registering, the only requirements are that the person is male, a resident of Hong Kong, and that he brings his identity card and two passport size photo- graphs. A maximum of 10 patients can be treated at any one time, each patient staying up to seven days.
Before the patient is given methadone he is observed closely to verify that he is a true narcotic addict. While in the centre he has no access to drugs and a true nar- cotic addict will develop withdrawal signs approximately 20 to 30 hours after admis- sion. Methadone treatment is then started. The initial dose is 20 mgm. This is increased daily by 10 mgm until a maximum stabilising dose of 40 mgm is reached on the fifth day. The relatively low dose of methadone blocks the craving for narcotics, allows the addict to do a full day's work, facilitates social rehabilitation work, is safe and economical.
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Any concurrent medical problems the patient may have are dealt with or he is referred to a specialist. A psychiatrist visits the centre to deal with psychological or psychiatric matters and a social worker attends to social and work problems. After discharge the patient must return to the centre each day for his daily supply of methadone and is tested for the presence of methadone and any other narcotic substances in his body.
The Drug Addicts Treatment and Rehabilitation Ordinance was amended to extend the period within which an absconding patient may be recaptured by the superintendent of a treatment centre or the police. This period is now 90 days instead of the former 28 days.
Hospitals
There are now 16,848 hospital beds available in Hong Kong, representing 4.1 beds per thousand of the population (see Appendix 25). This figure includes maternity and nursing homes, but not institutions maintained by the Armed Forces. Of these beds, 14,795 are in government hospitals and institutions or in government-assisted hospitals, while the remaining 2,053 are provided by private agencies. Apart from beds assigned to the mentally ill and for the treatment of tuberculosis and infectious diseases there are 12,721 beds available for all general purposes, including maternity, giving a ratio of 3.1 beds per thousand of the population. The figures quoted are based on the normal bed capacities of the hospitals, but in some cases the actual occupancy is much higher, as temporary beds are used whenever the need arises.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital serves as the main emergency and specialist hospital for Kowloon and the New Territories, with all necessary ancillary and specialist services. It has a capacity of 1,596 beds, but the pressure for admission necessitates the extensive use of temporary beds bringing the total number of functional beds in the hospital to 1,898. Kowloon hospital is used mainly as a subsidiary to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for patients requiring convalescent care and rehabilitation. In