HEALTH
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the supply of illicit drugs and forced prices up dramatically, the number of addicts seeking methadone treatment has been increasing steadily. During 1977, the total registration of addicts at the 17 detoxification centres rose from 7,102 in January to 10,638 in December. A total of 209 addicts completed their treatment and, at the end of the year, 2,194 addicts were still attending centres each day. The year also was busy for the methadone maintenance programme, with the number of patients rising to an all-time high. Some 1,616 patients were registered for treatment at the four methadone maintenance centres. The average daily attendance was 3,144 at the end of 1977, compared with 2,894 a year earlier. Although methadone maintenance and methadone detoxification differ from each other (the former offers methadone as a substitute for 'hard' drugs and the latter aims at weaning an addict off drugs by gradually reducing the daily dosage over a number of weeks), flexibility is exercised by permitting patients to switch from one programme to the other at their own request. The over-riding aim is to encourage patients to continue treatment for as long as their individual circumstances dictate.
The Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts (SARDA) provides a large-scale voluntary and residential treatment programme. SARDA has two in- patient treatment and rehabilitation centres - one for up to 500 men on the outlying island of Shek Kwu Chau and the other for a maximum of 30 women on Hong Kong Island. Complementing the work of these two treatment centres are six regional aftercare centres, three intake units, two clinics and three hostels. The two treatment centres, which operate on an ‘open-door' basis by allowing patients to leave at any time, provide treatment ranging from a week-long course that allows addicts to under- go physical withdrawal from drugs to a 180-day course that includes work therapy and rehabilitation.
A milestone in the development of Hong Kong's drug addiction treatment facilities came in July with the opening of the world's first out-patient acupuncture-electro- stimulation centre at the Tung Wah Hospital. This new method suppresses withdrawal symptoms through the electric stimulation of a pair of acupuncture needles inserted subcutaneously into the concha of both ears of a patient. The programme, which is being used to gauge the feasibility of making this type of treatment available on an out-patient basis, is sponsored by the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Hong Kong Government. During the six months up to the end of 1977, some 505 addicts were admitted for treatment.
All these programmes, together with the Prisons Department's compulsory treat- ment programme carried out in four drug addiction treatment centres, are catering for more than 14,000 people at any one time, including those on aftercare.
Another major effort made during 1977 to boost Hong Kong's anti-narcotics tech- niques was the implementation of a plan to set up a computerised Central Registry of Drug Addicts. The new registry, which replaces the government's five-year-old registry system for drug addicts, promises to provide more accurate and up-to-date information on Hong Kong's overall drug problem. This will enable government policymakers to keep themselves ahead of the changing patterns of drug abuse. With the help of a Swedish consultant from New York, preparations for the new registry went into full swing in the second half of the year. When the registry becomes fully operational in mid-1978, it will be able to produce comprehensive statistical