Dentistry
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The fifth is dentistry. At present this represents a gap in our medical and health services. We propose to start with a service to care for the teeth of school children. A dental centre is being built at Morrison Hill for a dental nurse and hygienist training school and a children's dental clinic with 30 chairs. The first intake of dental nurses for training will start in September 1978, and the School Dental Conservation Service in 1981.
Planning of a Dental School in the University of Hong Kong has
started. The first pre-clinical intake will be in 1980 and the first group of 60 dentists should graduate in 1984.
Rehabilitation Services
The sixth is our Rehabilitation Services, which fall partly within the field of medical, partly of education and partly of social welfare services. Since the thorough review of these services just completed is about to be published next week as a green paper I will not elaborate on its recommendations, though later in this speech I will refer to how and when services under this heading
should be considered together with other social welfare services. Later in the
debate I look forward to hearing the comments of some Hon. Members on the contents of the green paper.
Population Control
Finally a word about control of the growth of population. We must continue to exert tight control over both legal and illegal immigration, and also ensure that family planning services are adequate to the community's
requirements. There are now 66 centres providing family planning services
40 operated by the Medical and Health Department and 26 by the Family Planning Association, and all new family health centres will incorporate family planning services. The calculations of the office of Census and Statistics suggest that these measures are having satisfactory results.
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