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HEALTH
sector. Vaccine is produced at the Institute of Immunology. Studies have been carried out on viral hepatitis, poliomyelitis, influenza and rubella.
The Institute of Radiology and Oncology provides diagnostic and therapeutic services in hospitals and clinics. It handles more than 90 per cent of all patients requiring radiotherapy in Hong Kong. Visits are made to non-government premises to inspect the working conditions of radiation workers and to ensure that X-ray equipment poses no radiation hazard to the public. Research is being conducted on the epidemiology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
The Government Laboratory is responsible for examining food, liquors, pharma- ceuticals and other commodities. The Forensic Pathology Service works closely with the Royal Hong Kong Police on the medical aspects of criminology.
Drug Abuse
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Drug abuse is a serious and long-standing problem in Hong Kong with social, cultural, economic, legal, medical and psychological implications. In recent years, Hong Kong has been relentlessly stepping up its anti-narcotics efforts and there are indications that the overall problem has been contained.
The exact number of addicts in Hong Kong is not known, but it has been estimated at between 60,000 and 100,000. Typically, the addicts are males over 21 from the lower income groups, working in unskilled occupations, and with five years or less education. They are generally single or, if married, are usually separated from their families. Most addicts in Hong Kong use 'hard' drugs. It is believed that about 90 per cent of the addicts are on heroin and the remainder mostly on opium. Based on a conservative estimate of 60,000 addicts each spending $30 a day on drugs, the total sum involved would come to a staggering $650 million a year. Although more addicts are using hypodermic needles to take heroin, most still use the traditional fume-inhalation method, commonly known as 'chasing the dragon'. The reasons generally given by addicts for experimenting with drugs are the influence of friends, curiosity and an urge for fun and ‘kicks'. Some also say they use heroin to increase sexual ability and pleasure, to relieve fatigue, to mitigate the pain of certain diseases and to escape from the frustrations of life.
The government spends more than $44 million a year on anti-narcotics work, which can be broadly divided into four main areas treatment and rehabilitation, law enforcement, preventive education and publicity, and international co-operation. Co-ordination of work in these four areas, carried out by various government depart- ments and government-subsidised voluntary agencies, is the responsibility of the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN). The committee also is the sole advisory body to the government on all policy matters relating to narcotics and is serviced by the Narcotics Division headed by the Commissioner for Narcotics.
In the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, the government adopts a multi- modality approach aimed at providing a wide range of treatment programmes to suit different categories of addicts. Under the out-patient methadone treatment pro- gramme run by the Narcotics and Drugs Administration Division of the Medical and Health Department, there are now four methadone maintenance centres and 17 methadone detoxification clinics, including one opened in Cheung Chau in October, 1977. As a result of successful law enforcement action, which has severely curtailed
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