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Health
active listening and communication and create an inclusive and mental health-friendly workplace.
AIDS Counselling and Education
The department'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 2019, the centre organised 56 major activities for 57,300 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 2019, the hotline received about 11,600 calls. Nurse counsellors handled 13,700 calls for AIDS counselling. About 691,500 condoms were distributed to promote safer sex. There are also a 21171069.gov.hk website and a Gay Men HIV Testing Hotline (2117 1069), which received 140 calls in 2019 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. By end-2019, the Centralised Organ Donation Register had recorded more than 317,000 registrations.
The number of patients waiting for kidney, liver, heart and lung transplants stood at 2,268, 60, 54 and 24 respectively. During the year, there were 42 kidney, 23 liver, eight heart, seven double-lung and 324 cornea donations from the deceased in public hospitals.
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 2019, the board received nine applications for organ transplants between living non-related persons and Hong Kong imported 68 human organs for transplant purposes. Under a pilot Paired Kidney Donation Programme, the Hospital Authority performs organ matching regularly on renal patients and their relatives who have joined the programme.
Smoking and Health
China is a state party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organisation (WHO), so provisions of the convention are applicable to Hong Kong. The city's tobacco control policy aims to discourage smoking, contain the proliferation of tobacco use and minimise the impact from passive smoking through a progressive and multi-pronged approach comprising legislation, publicity, education, enforcement, smoking cessation and taxation.
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