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Public Assistance Scheme. The new proposals are based on cash payments and the maintenance of a minimum income level.
Medical Services
6. Medical facilities in the Colony are set at a high
order. The policy of the Hong Kong Government is to provide directly or indirectly low cost or free medical and personal
health services to those who cannot afford to pay. In 1969
there were 3.97 hospital beds per thousand of the population, and it is expected that the target of 4.25 beds per thousand
will be achieved by 1972 at the end of the current 10 year
development programme.
7. A large new hospital, which will provide 2,600 beds, is being constructed at Lai Chi Kok. About 10 per cent of total Government expenditure in the current financial year is
allocated to medical services.
Labour Situation
8. Of rather more than 1.5 million people at work in Hong Kong, 600,000 are engaged in the manufacturing industries. Wage rates are high by Asian standards, and, in general, conditions of work in Hong Kong are second only to those in Japan among Asian countries. Over the last decade the real wages of workers in the manufacturing industries have risen by an average of 5.7 per cent per annum. Side by side with this there has been a steady improvement in labour standards. Creation of a cost of Parliamentary Commissioner for
Administration (Ombudsman) in Hong Kong
9. Before any conclusion can be reached on this matter, the recently reorganised office of the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils should be given an opportunity of showing whether it can successfully deal with all the complaints referred to it. The Office is part of the existing machinery in Hong Kong for enabling members of the public to make known their grievances to the authorities.
Hong Kong Department 23 December, 1970.
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