X1000306-1984-85_Part01 — Page 8

School Medical Service

In the year the Adolescent Health Campaign held two district exhibitions and two Young Health Leader Training Courses were organised for students in the Tsuen Wan and Shatin District. Subsequently two Young Health Leader Clubs were formed with the aim to provide opportunities/or further follow-up and guidance of the youngsters in their health education activities amongst their peer groups.

A

Other health educational campaigns included anti-malaria, heart health and health education on AIDS. The latter aimed largely at clarifying misconceptions and providing more accurate information to the community. 24-hour health educational telephone hot line service on this subject was established.

Epidemiological information is exchanged regularly with the World Health Organisation in Geneva and its Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila and with neighbouring countries.

Dental Service

A school children dental service was introduced in 1980. The service provides regular dental examinations and simple dental treatment to primary school children. The response from parents to this aspect of preventive dentistry has been very encouraging. At the end of the fifth year of operation, the number of participants from Primary I to IV school children has reached some 233 741. The participation rate has increased to about 66₫ as compared with 29% in the first year. To enable the scheme to cover eventually all the primary school children, six more school dental clinics have been planned in addition to the existing two in operation.

The Government Dental Service provides dental care for all civil servants and their dependants as well as simple dental treatment for the inmates of penal institutions and specialist treatment for patients in Government hospitals. Emergency treatment is also provided to the public in a number of district dental clinics.

The School Medical Service Scheme is operated by an independent. statutory School Medical Service Board. The scheme offers an economic form of medical treatment service to all school children in Primary I to Form TII. Participation is voluntary and, for a token fee of $10 a year, a participant can receive free medical attention from a general medical practitioner of the school's choice. The Government contributes $65 a year for each pupil enrolled and also bears the administrative cost of operating the Scheme. The general response to the Scheme is favourable and more than 290 general medical practitioners are enlisted in the Scheme.

Over 312 000 school children from 842 schools participated in the Scheme as at 31 March 1985, representing a coverage of about 40% of the total eligible school population.

The School Health Service, a Government responsibility, deals with the environmental health and sanitation of school premises and the control of communicable diseases. School health officers, health visitors and health inspectors make frequent inspections of schools, and advise on matters concerning the health of the children and organise special health educational activities and immunization campaigns.

V Hospital and Clinic Services

Port Health Service

The Port Health Service enforces control at Rong Kong International Airport and in the territory's waters, to prevent the introduction of quarantinable diseases and to carry out other measures required under the International Health Regulations.

The service provides facilities for vaccination and the issuing of international vaccination certificates. It also inspects and supervises the eradication of rats from ships on international voyages. The service provides medical assistance to ships in the harbour, transmits medical advice to ships at sea, operates a 24-hour health clearance service for all incoming vessels, and grants radio pratique to ships.

The health staff also maintain close surveillance on the food catering service to international airlines to ensure that food and water supplied by the flight kitchen service is clean and safe.

Hospitals

There are three types of hospitals in Hong Kong Government, Government-assisted and private with a total of 24 073 beds representing 4.5 beds per thousand of the population. Pressure on the service was experienced on all fronts, reflected by the increase in attendance at out- patient clinics, accident and emergency departments and by the number of hospital admissions.

To ensure better co-ordination within the health sector, the Department has adopted a regional approach in the planning and administration of medical and health services. Under the scheme, hospital and clinic facilities situated in a common geographical area were grouped together to form an integrated network of services. The aim is to ensure a more even utilization of medical facilities in both the Government and Government-subvented hospitals and clinics.

In 1984, the total attendance at Government and Government- assisted Accident and Emergency Departments was 1 071 244, averaging 2 927 attendances per day. A total of 620 299 patients were treated in the 14 Government and 20 Covernment-assisted hospitals.

y

Page