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HEALTH
The Institute of Radiology and Oncology provides diagnostic organ image services for the government as well as consultant services for all government-subvented hospitals and private institutions. Computerised axial tomography (CAT) whole-body scanners are installed in all government regional hospitals including the new Prince of Wales Hospital. The main tasks of the Nuclear Medicine Unit are to co-ordinate and improve the various nuclear medicine procedures and to train medical personnel in the field.
The institute provides comprehensive radiotherapy programmes and a chemotherapy service. It also operates a cancer registry covering the whole territory. Professional staff of the Radiation Health Unit carry out regular inspections of medical, commercial and industrial premises and monitor the working conditions of radiation workers. During the year, more than 1 450 radiation licences were issued to proprietors in accordance with the Radiation Ordinance.
The Pharmaceutical Service is made up of two main divisions. The first is the hospital and clinic pharmacy service which has about 500 professional and technical staff and is responsible for dispensing medicine in all government hospitals and clinics. The second division is the pharmacy law enforcement service whose staff include some 17 pharmacists. During the year, intensified action against the illegal sale and distribution of poisons and antibiotics resulted in a record of about 120 prosecutions.
Community Nursing Service
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The Community Nursing Service extends care to patients discharged from hospitals after acute illness and provides domiciliary medical care and support for the sick, the disabled and the elderly in their own homes.
The service is provided by trained community nurses. Jointly operated by eight agencies, including the Medical and Health Department, it is largely hospital-based, with domiciliary services provided through a network of 39 sub-centres. During the year, 10 400 new patients were treated by community nurses and more than 212 000 home visits were made.
Health Education
The Central Health Education Unit of the Medical and Health Department is responsible for organising, co-ordinating and promoting health education activities. In response to International Youth Year and as a follow-up to the Adolescent Health Pilot Project started in 1983, the Central Health Education Unit launched a large scale campaign on adolescent health in August. The major activity was an exhibition in the City Hall with colourful all with health displays, computer games, video and slide shows and tape recordings themes. During the same period, seminars for teachers, sex education workshops for adolescents and film shows were held in the recital hall.
Earlier in the year, the Central Health Education Unit had been involved in public education on malaria and AIDS. To enable the public to obtain speedy and easy access to accurate and up-to-date information on AIDS, the 24-hour telephone hotline service, utilising tape recordings, was expanded to six lines. Facilities were also provided for answering more detailed enquiries.
To promote concern among residents of Sai Kung over the problem of malaria, an anti-malaria project for secondary school students was organised.
Increased community concern for health was shown by the popularity of the resource supply service, where audio-visual materials were loaned free of charge to schools and voluntary agencies. In addition, an increasing number of persons visited the three audio-visual centres to obtain information on health matters.