XN000022-1985-01-30 — Page 10

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1985

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MAIN TASKS TO HELP DISABLED OUTLINED

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THE GOVERNMENT HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE MAIN REHABILITATION TASKS TO BE UNDERTAKEN TO HELP SOLVE PROBLEMS FACING HONG KONG'S HALF MILLION DISABLED PEOPLE,

THIS WAS STATED TODAY (WEDNESDAY) BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR REHABILITATION, MR MARTIN LEWIS AT THE ROTARY CLUB OF HONG KONG ISLAND EAST.

MR LEWIS SAID THAT ALTHOUGH THERE HAD BEEN SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN PROVIDING TRANSPORT FACILITIES FOR THE HANDICAPPED, THERE WAS STILL A NEED FOR A CONSCIOUS TRANSPORT POLICY FOR THE DISABLED EMBODIED IN THE OVERALL TERRITORY-WIDE POLICY.

THE TRANSPORT POLICY FOR THE DISABLED WOULD HAVE TO IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF EACH DISABILITY, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THOSE PERSONS INCAPABLE OF USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES.

+ IT IS OUR 1985 RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH HOW THESE NEEDS CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND MET, THROUGH A WORKING PARTY THAT HAS JUST BEEN SET UP,+ MR LEWIS SAID.

ANOTHER TASK TO BE TACKLED, HE SAID, WAS THE PROMOTION OF PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE NEEDS OF THE DISABLED. MR LEWIS CALLED UPON THE MEDIA TO SUPPORT THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EDUCATION IN REHABILITATION WHICH WILL TAKE THE INITIATIVE THIS YEAR.

HE PAID TRIBUTE TO RTHK FOR PRODUCING ITS AWARD-WINNING FILM +BORN TO LIVE+, AND GAVE EXAMPLES OF OVERSEAS TV PROGRAMMES, SUCH AS + IRONSIDE + WHICH BROUGHT DISABLED PEOPLE INTO PROGRAMMES,

HE FELT, PARTICULARLY, THAT THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE EDUCATED MORE ON THE PROBLEMS OF THE MENTALLY ILL AND THE IR NEED FOR REHABILITATION.

+ONE IN NINE OF US ARE THOUGHT TO SUFFER FROM MENTAL ILLNESS AT SOME STAGE DURING OUR LIVES, SO IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THERE IS SOME UNDERSTANDING AS TO HOW BEST PEOPLE CAN REINTEGRATE INTO NORMAL LIFE.+

HE EXPLAINED THAT THERE WAS MUCH IGNORANCE ABOUT THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF MENTAL ILLNESS. IT WAS ALSO NOT MUCH KNOWN THAT, COMPARATIVELY, MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE WERE NO MORE DANGEROUS THAN OTHERS.

+WE MUST GET ACROSS THE MESSAGE THAT THE MENTALLY ILL, AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN TREATED IN HOSPITAL, MUST SOMEHOW ADJUST TO THE COMMUNITY AGAIN, AND THE HALF-WAY HOUSES ACT AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY LIFE, HE SAID.

ANOTHER 1985 RESOLUTION, SAID MR LEWIS, WAS TO ADVANCE THE ARGUMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SPEECH THERAPY COURSE IN HONG KONG. THE SHORTAGE OF SPEECH THERAPISTS IS PERHAPS THE SINGLE BIGGEST SHORTFALL IN REHABILITATION SERVICES IN HONG KONG. WE NEED ABOUT 130 AND AT THE LAST COUNT WE HAD ONLY 12 WORKING WITH THE CHINESE POPULATION,+ HE SAID.

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