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on methadone could apply for vacancies in the civil service on equal terms with other applicants. Their employment is subject to the provision that they have no previous record of major drug offences, and that they are able to produce a certificate from the Medical and Health Department stating that they have attended a methadone treatment centre continuously for at least one month and that their urine tests for drugs are negative. It is hoped that the private sector will follow the government's lead.
The Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers (SARDA) runs two voluntary in-patient treatment centres - one for men and the other for women. The male centre, located on the outlying island of Shek Kwu Chau, has the capacity for 600 patients. SARDA's female treatment centre, located in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, has the capacity for 30 patients. Linked with these two centres are six regional after-care centres, three units for the intake of patients and three hostels. During 1979, 2,254 patients, includ- ing 85 women, were admitted to SARDA's two centres.
Under these programmes and the Prisons Department's compulsory treatment pro- gramme being carried out in four treatment centres, there are about 16,000 people receiving some form of treatment, rehabilitation and after-care every day. This compares with about 6,000 five years ago. In addition, addiction among young people continues to decline. The percentage of addicts under 21 in the Prisons Department's drug addiction treatment centres decreased from 25 per cent in 1969 to 5.4 per cent in 1979; at SARDA's Shek Kwu Chau voluntary in-patient treatment centre, the percentage under 19 decreased from 13 per cent to 1.3 per cent in the same period.
Regarding legislation related to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, in August it became mandatory for the courts to remand a minor drug offender for a drug addiction treatment centre suitability report if a custodial sentence is intended. As an amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, its main objective is to provide more opportunities for minor drug offenders to be sent to a specialised treatment centre, if possible, instead of being sentenced to an ordinary prison.
Playing an important role in Hong Kong's fight against drug abuse is preventive education and publicity. Work in this area is focused on fostering public awareness of the dangers of drug abuse, promoting community involvement to deal with the problem, and persuading young people not to experiment with drugs. In 1979, the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) launched its largest-ever preventive education and publicity campaign. Events organised included a mass rally, three intensive month-long district campaigns in Wan Chai, Mong Kok and Tsuen Wan, and the production of various publicity materials such as television clips, films and dramas, leaflets, and posters. In addition, exhibitions and mobile street theatres were employed.
The mass rally, with the theme 'Hong Kong's Youth Against Drugs', was attended by more than 30,000 students and young people in April. The largest community involvement project ever organised by the ACAN, in conjunction with government departments and voluntary agencies, it was a spectacular start to the annual preventive education and publicity programme for 1979-80.
The Drug Abuse Telephone Inquiry Service, which started in September, 1977, continued to operate in 1979. By the end of the year, a total of 11,565 inquiries had been received since its inception.
Externally, Hong Kong continued to play an active part in international anti-drug action. Over the years Hong Kong has maintained close links with the United Nations, with inter-governmental agencies such as the Colombo Plan Bureau and Interpol, and with individual governments in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. During 1979 Hong Kong took part in 15 international meetings concerned with anti-drug law enforce-