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Health
AIDS Counselling and Education
The Department of Health's Red Ribbon Centre works with community partners to enhance awareness and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to promote the care and acceptance of HIV patients. In 2018, the centre organised 69 major activities for 81,700 participants.
Information on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), sexually transmitted infections and multilingual AIDS hotlines is available on the department's website.
Appointments for counselling and HIV antibody tests may be made on the hotline 2780 2211 or the 27802211.com website. In 2018, the hotline received about 15,300 calls. Nurse counsellors handled 15,600 calls for AIDS counselling. About 725,000 condoms were distributed to promote safer sex. There are also a 21171069.com website and a Gay Men HIV Testing Hotline (2117 1069), which received 140 calls in 2018 for counselling and HIV antibody tests.
Organ Donation and Transplant
The department, working with the Hospital Authority, healthcare professional bodies and NGOs, promotes organ donation on different fronts. The promotion work is coordinated by the Committee on Promotion of Organ Donation. It invites companies, schools and other organisations to become signatories of the Organ Donation Promotion Charter.
By end-2018, more than 570 organisations had signed the charter and more than 297,000 people had registered with the Centralised Organ Donation Register to express their wish to donate their organs after death.
The number of patients waiting for kidney, liver, heart and double-lung transplants stood at 2,237, 69, 51 and 19 respectively. During the year, there were 60 kidney, 34 liver, 17 heart, six double-lung and 346 cornea donations from the deceased in public hospitals. There was one single-lung donation.
The Human Organ Transplant Ordinance regulates the transplant of human organs and import of human organs for transplant purposes, and prohibits commercial dealings in human organs intended for transplant. Approval from the statutory Human Organ Transplant Board is required for the transplant of human organs between living persons who are not genetically related or a couple whose marriage has subsisted for not more than three years. In 2018, the board received 12 applications for organ transplants between living non-related persons and Hong Kong imported 75 human organs for transplant purposes. The ordinance was amended to provide for paired and pooled donation arrangements. A pilot Paired Kidney Donation Programme was also launched by the Hospital Authority in the fourth quarter.
Under the ordinance, applications can be made to the department to exempt certain commercial products made from processed human tissue, enabling patients with genuine medical needs to benefit from the use of these products. Forty-six products were on the exemption list as at end-2018.
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