Health 171
Dental Health
Eight school dental clinics run by the DH provided preventive dental services including annual dental check-ups and basic dental care to about 315 000 primary students in the 2010-11 school year, or about 95.1 per cent of the total number of primary school pupils in Hong Kong.
In addition to the 11 government dental clinics that provide basic dental services to the general public for pain relief and tooth extraction, the department offers specialist oral healthcare services in seven public hospitals to inpatients and others with special oral health needs. The department also monitors the level of fluoridation in water supplied to the public to reduce dental decay.
A Task Force on Primary Dental Care and Oral Health was formed in late 2010 under the WGPC. It advises the Government on the strategy and measures for development of primary dental care and promotion of oral health in Hong Kong as well as the formulation and implementation of related specific initiatives including pilot projects and surveys. It also tenders advice on the strategies and measures aiming to enhance the professional development of dentists and other supporting healthcare professionals.
Mental Health
The Government intends to provide comprehensive mental health services, including continuous treatment for patients who need it on a long-term basis, early detection and treatment, rehabilitation and community support.
Resources allocated by the Government to mental health services have been increasing over the years bringing the annual expenditure to $3.92 billion in the 2010-11 financial year.
With the increasing importance of mental health services in community settings, in recent years various initiatives have been implemented to enhance the community support services for mental patients to facilitate their recovery and reintegration into the community. In 2010-11, the HA piloted a case management programme in three districts (Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong and Yuen Long), under which case managers provide intensive, continuous and personalised support to persons with severe mental illness. In 2011-12, the HA is extending the programme to five more districts (Eastern, Sham Shui Po, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Wan Chai) to benefit more patients.
To strengthen its support for very high-risk patients and to provide rapid and prompt response to emergency referrals in the community, the HA is setting up crisis intervention teams in all of its seven clusters in 2011-12.
In 2010-11, the HA set up common mental disorder clinics at the psychiatric specialist outpatient clinics to enhance the assessment and consultation services for patients with common mental disorders. An Integrated Mental Health Programme (IMHP) was also launched starting from October 2010 at selected general outpatient clinics of five HA clusters (Hong Kong East, Hong Kong West, Kowloon East, Kowloon West and New Territories East) to provide better support to these patients