HEALTH
146
For the 1991-2 financial year, the allocation of funds to government medical and health services amounts to $5,905 million. In addition, subventions totalling $2,698 million were provided for non-government medical institutions and organisations. Capital expenditure on new hospitals and other buildings, including equipment and furniture, was about $1,974 million, including $485 million for the subvented sector.
Health of the Community
The general level of health of the population remains good, largely due to anti-epidemic and disease-surveillance measures, the comprehensive range of preventive, promotive and personal health services, and a comparatively high standard of living. This is reflected in the highly satisfactory health indices. Infant mortality has remained below seven per 1 000 live births and the average life expectancy is 80 for females and 75 for males.
The leading causes of death today are cancer, heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases. The low infant mortality rate is attributed mainly to the provision of comprehensive family health care and neo-natal care facilities as well as improvements in environmental and socio-economic conditions and the health infrastructure.
(Statistics are given in Appendices 28 and 29.)
The incidence of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has slightly increased. During 1991, 15 cases were reported, bringing the total number on record from 44 to 59, of which 39 have died.
The Advisory Council on AIDS, founded in 1990, remains the main organisation to organise and co-ordinate the territory's various AIDS-related activities. Under the council, the Committee on Education and Publicity on AIDS (CEPAIDS) continues to work towards promoting greater involvement of the community in AIDS education, sustaining awareness of the disease among members of the public, co-ordinating the training of intermediaries to provide education and counselling, promoting respect for the con- fidentiality of and preventing discrimination against HIV-infected individuals, evaluating the effectiveness of the programmes and co-ordinating activities for special target groups such as students, youth, workers, drug abusers and sexually-active persons. To achieve these objectives, seven working groups were formed under CEPAIDS, each responsible for a specific area of the work.
At the same time, the Scientific Working Group, also under the council, is concerned with the technical aspects of the preventive programmes. The Working Group con- centrated in 1991 on the production of comprehensive guidelines for the prevention of transmission of HIV in health care settings, initiation of Unlinked Anonymous HIV Surveillance Programmes on different groups of the population, assessment of the standard of HIV antibody tests being performed by the private laboratories, a survey on the pattern of venereal diseases encountered by venereologists in the private sector and other studies and scientific research projects.
In recognition of the fact that successful prevention and control programmes must rely on close collaboration between government and non-government sectors, the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation was incorporated in May 1991 as a non-governmental organisation to supplement and complement government's efforts. The scope of activities to be undertaken by the foundation includes research, health promotion and education, publicity and counselling services. In particular, it would mobilise public support and open up avenues for community participation.