XN000022-1996-12-18 — Page 55

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Many of these issues are of a legal or technical nature. While good progress is being made, there is still a lot of ground to cover. We are actively engaging the Chinese side and we have every intention to continue to do so. Where legislation is needed before 1 July 1997 to implement a JLG agreement, we will always strive to reach agreement with the Chinese before introducing the legislation.

It is therefore very much the Hong Kong Government's intention to complete the work on the Joint Liaison Group agenda before 1 July 1997. With the Chinese side's cooperation, there is no reason why we cannot achieve that objective.

End

HA mental health hotline service

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Huang Chen-ya and a written reply by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

With regard to the mental health hotline service provided by the Hospital Authority (HA), is the Government aware of:

(a)

(b)

(c)

the total number of calls for assistance received in the past twelve months;

the categories of such calls and the ways of handling the calls; and

what publicity plans does the HA have to enhance the public's awareness of the service?

Reply:

A total of about 900 calls were received by the 24-hour psychiatric hotline provided by the Hospital Authority in the past 12 months. The majority of these calls were related to general information such as the clinical condition of different mental illnesses and their corresponding medical treatment, as well as the availability of mental health services in Hong Kong.