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Health
Immunisation Teams under the auspices of the DH's Centre for Health Protection visit primary schools every year to administer free vaccinations for students.
Under the School Dental Care Service (SDCS), the DH's eight school dental clinics provided preventive dental services including annual dental check-ups and basic dental care to about 308,000 primary students (about 96 per cent of all Hong Kong primary students) in the 2013-14 school year. Students with intellectual and/or physical disabilities (such as cerebral palsy) studying in special schools can use the services under the SDCS until the age of 18.
Elderly Health
The DH's 18 elderly health centres and 18 visiting health teams provide primary healthcare to the elderly, improve their ability to care for themselves and encourage healthy living and their family's support. The centres provide health assessments, curative treatment, health education and counselling to people aged 65 and above on a membership basis. The visiting health teams conduct health promotion activities for the elderly and provide training to improve carers' skills. In 2014, the centres recorded around 39,000 enrolments and 166,000 attendances for health assessment and medical consultation, while the visiting health teams provided service to 319,000 persons.
Community Health
The HA's community healthcare services aim to reduce reliance on inpatient services and help patients' rehabilitation in the community. In 2014, the HA conducted 1.99 million home visits and outreach care services, including those for elderly people and mental patients.
Over 80 per cent of those receiving HA's community nursing care services are elderly people. Community geriatric assessment teams visit residential care homes for the elderly regularly to provide medical and nursing care to residents who are unable to visit the specialist outpatient clinics. These teams also train the carers to help them take care of frail residents.
Dental Health
Eleven government dental clinics provide emergency dental services to the general public for pain relief and tooth extraction, and seven public hospitals offer specialist oral healthcare services to inpatients and others with special oral healthcare needs. The DH also monitors the level of fluoridation in water supplied to the public to reduce dental decay.
The DH's Oral Health Education Unit carries out various target-oriented educational activities to promote oral health, such as the 'Bright Smiles Mobile Classroom' for primary students. Information on oral health is also provided through the oral health education homepage and a 24-hour interactive hotline. In addition, the DH organises the annual 'Love Teeth Campaign' to encourage good dental habits.
In 2011, the government launched a pilot project to provide outreach dental care services for elderly persons residing in residential care homes or receiving services in day care centres. through outreach teams operated by NGOs. In October 2014, the government turned the outreach pilot project into a recurrent programme.
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