HEALTH
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The Diagnostic Radiology Division provides a diagnostic organ-imaging service for government institutes and one government subvented hospital, the Nam Long Hospital. A consultant service is available to all government subvented hospitals and private medical practitioners on payment of a fee. 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 Radiotherapy and Oncology Division provides comprehensive radiotherapy pro- grammes and a chemotherapy service. The division also operates a cancer registry covering the whole territory. The Medical Physics Unit is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the radiation physics and mould laboratories, radiological workshop and the photographic section of the division.
The Pharmaceutical Service is made up of two main divisions. The first is the hospital and clinic pharmacy service which has a staff of 750, which includes 54 pharmacists. The second division is the pharmacy law enforcement service, with an establishment of 17 pharmacists supported by a number of clerical staff. During the year, continued action against the illegal sale and distribution of poisons and antibiotics was carried out, resulting in 103 prosecutions.
Community Nursing Service
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 40 sub-centres. During the year, 10 200 new patients were treated by community nurses and more than 213 000 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 the WHO World Health Day theme for 1986, 'Healthy Living, Every One a Winner', the Central Health Education Unit adopted the subject for a large scale health education campaign in 1986. A carnival was celebrated at Victoria Park in November to remind the public of their own responsibility in health.
During the year, the Central Health Education Unit was also involved in other health education campaigns. Of special note was the anti-smoking publicity campaign. Besides providing resources and expert advice, the unit also participated in the rally at Kowloon Park in September. And starting in the same month, anti-smoking workshop sessions for secondary students were organised at the Yung Fung Shee Health Education Centre.
In September, an organ donation campaign was launched, appealing to the public to donate their kidneys and eyes after death.
Other health education campaigns included the Home Safety Campaign and the Mental Health Education Campaign. Health education on malaria, food borne diseases and other medical topics were also provided.
Increased community concern for health was shown by the popularity of the resource supply service where audio-visual materials were lent free of charge to schools and voluntary agencies. In addition, there was an increasing number of persons visiting the three audio-visual centres to obtain information on health matters.