HEALTH
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Since 1987, the programme has been extended to all primary school children. In 1990, 400 921 participated, representing 74 per cent of the primary school population.
An Oral Health Education Unit has been established by the Department of Health to organise oral health education activities for the community.
The Government Dental Service provides dental care for all monthly-paid government servants, their dependants and pensioners, as well as simple dental treatment for inmates of penal institutions and specialist treatment for patients in government hospitals. Emergency treatment is also provided for the public at a number of district dental clinics.
Services for the Mentally Ill and Mentally Handicapped
Medical Services for the mentally ill include treatment in hospitals, out-patient clinics and day hospitals. The Mental Health Service of the Hospital Services Department, in conjunction with other local academic and voluntary bodies, provides a comprehensive psychiatric service for the territory as a whole. A great deal of emphasis is put on in- tegrating rehabilitation with medical treatment.
At the end of 1990, 3 486 beds were provided in psychiatric hospitals, and 645 beds in psychiatric units of general hospitals. In line with the universal trend for the latter type of provision, 2 120 additional beds are being planned for the mentally ill in various hospitals.
Psychiatric patients are treated, as far as possible, in the community. The Community Work and Aftercare Units of the psychiatric hospitals provide multi-disciplinary assistance = to patients discharged from these hospitals. Domiciliary occupational therapy and com- munity psychiatric nursing services in particular aim to provide treatment programmes and continuity of care for discharged mental patients in their home setting, thereby assisting them in social readjustment and educating patients as well as their families in mental health. There are now seven Community Psychiatric Nursing Centres and four more have been planned. Other complementary rehabilitative services include day centres, halfway houses, long-stay care homes, vocational training, selective placement and social clubs offered by various government departments and voluntary agencies.
Severely mentally-handicapped persons requiring medical treatment and intensive nurs- ing are cared for at the 200-bed Siu Lam Hospital and at the 300-bed unit in the Caritas Medical Centre. A further 700 beds in this category have been included in the Medical Development Programme to meet the continuing need.
Special Services
The Pathology Service provides both clinical and public health laboratory services for government hospitals and clinics, and a consultancy service for the subvented sector. It also administers hospital mortuaries and blood banks.
The Forensic Pathology Service with its fully-established forensic laboratory works closely with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force on the medical aspects of criminology and other medico-legal work. It also performs investigations in all homicides and coroners' cases. The public mortuaries are under the administration of the service.
The Virus Unit is the central laboratory for the diagnosis and surveillance of viral infections including AIDS. It provides laboratory support for the screening, assessment and guidance of vaccination programmes against viral diseases. Moreover, its Institute of Immunology undertakes the monitoring and quality control of biological products, including vaccines for use in the local health services.