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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1979
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HE SAID DRUG ABUSE WAS AFFECTING NOT ONLY THOSE IN THE MAJOR CITIES AND GREAT URBAN CONNURBATIONS, NOT ONLY INDUSTRIAL WORKERS
IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, BUT IMPOVERISHED FARMERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO WHOM, OPIUM, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS NOT MERELY A SIMPLE MEDICINE, BUT A MEANS OF EXISTENCE AT SUBSISTENCE LEVEL.
+NO NATION CAN INNOCULATE ITSELF AGAINST THE SPREAD OF THIS DISEASE AND IT IS ONLY BY INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION AND ACTION, AND BY PREVENTIVE MEASURES, IN THE LAST RESORT, THAT IT WILL BE OVERCOME, DR. THONG SAID.
HE ADDED +WE HAVE OBSERVED THAT THE PATTERNS OF ABUSE VARY FROM REGION TO REGION, AND FROM TIME TO TIME WITHIN THE SAME REGION. WE HAVE NOTED THAT THE CONDITION RESPECTS NO BOUNDARIES, NO CLASS, NO RACE, NO BELIEF.
+WE HAVE SEEN THAT NO MAN IS IMMUNE TO THIS DREADFUL SCOURGE GIVEN THE APPROPRIATE COMBINATION OF CIRCUMSTANCE AND OPPORTUNITY,
DR. THONG SAID DRUG ABUSE WAS NOT A DISEASE ENTITY IN ITSELF, IT WAS A SYMPTOM OF AN UNDERLYING CONDITION WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY CONCERNED WITH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL AND HIS ENVIRONMENT IN THE COMMUNITY.
+ IN THIS RESPECT IT IS NO DIFFERENT FROM THE MANY OTHER DISEASE PROCESSES WITH WHICH THE MODERN PHYSICIAN MUST CONCERN HIMSELF.
+IN SUCH CASES, IT IS AXIOMATIC THAT SYMPTOMATIC TREATMENT ALONE WILL NOT SUFFİCE, AND THAT WE MUST DIRECT OUR ATTENTION TO THE ROOT CAUSES,+ HE SAID.
THE MONTH-LONG TRAINING COURSE, WHICH WAS OPENED ON OCTOBER 30 BY SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES, WAS PARTICIPATED BY 25 PHYSICIANS FROM AFGHANISTAN, BURMA, EGYPT, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, PAKISTAN, THE PHILIPPINES AND THAILAND.
IT WAS AIMED AT PROVIDING AN IN-DEPTH STUDY INTO THE LATEST ANTI-NARCOTICS TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION POLICIES AND METHODS IN HONG KONG.
THE INTENSIVE COURSE ALSO PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTICIPATING PHYSICIANS TO TAKE A FIRST-HAND LOOK AT THE ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT OF HONG KONG'S MULTI-MODALITY TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES AND TO DISCUSS THEM WITH THE HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF OF THE INSTITUTIONS CONCERNED.
CHECKS ON FACTORIES AGAINST EXCESSIVE SMOKE EMISSION
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SINCE 1976, OFFICERS FROM THE SMOKE INSPECTORATE AND THE INDUSTRIAL HEALTH DIVISION OF THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT HAVE CARRIED OUT MORE THAN 100 INVESTIGATIONS TO FACTORIES NEAR THE BOARDING SCHOOL OVERLOOKING DIAMOND HILL TO ENSURE THAT SMOKE EMISSION IN THE AREA IS KEPT WITHIN LEGAL LIMITS.
THIS WAS STATED BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR LABOUR, THE HON. NEIL HENDERSON, AT THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY) IN REPLY TO A QUESTION FROM THE REV. THE HON. JOYCE BENNETT.
MR. HENDERSON