ENG-1967 — Page 152

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HEALTH

to be re-registered annually. A Code of Practice was issued to all unregistered practitioners in charge of exempted clinics. It contains rules of conduct and defines the scope of their professional activities; contravention of this code provides sufficient reason either for refusal to grant exemption or for cancellation of re-registration of exempted clinics. The Ordinance also prohibits the re-registration with exemption of any mobile clinic after December 31, 1967 and arrangements have been made to replace them with properly equipped clinics in resettlement and low-cost housing authority estates. In allocating these premises registered doctors will be given priority.

DENTAL SERVICES

The government dental service undertakes complete dental care for all monthly-paid government officers and their families and offers a limited treatment programme for inpatients of government hospitals, prisoners and inmates of training centres. The service also provides emergency treatment for the general public at certain clinics. There are 29 government dental clinics and one mobile unit, the latter supplementing static clinic facilities.

Fluoridation of Hong Kong's urban water supply began in 1961 and most of the population now receives water which has been treated with sodium fluoride or sodium silico-fluoride. The rate of enrichment is one part of fluoride per million throughout the year. It is considered that this measure has already brought about a reduction in the prevalence of dental caries, particularly among children, and that this benefit will be more marked in the future.

Many voluntary bodies and welfare organizations, particularly the Hong Kong Dental Society and the St John Ambulance Brigade, maintain free, or low-cost, dental clinics and many dentists give their services free. The Church World Service, the Lutheran World Service and Caritas operate fully-equipped mobile dental clinics.

OPHTHALMIC SERVICE

Based upon three full-time outpatient centres, including one in the new Yau Ma Tei Polyclinic, equipped with operating, investiga- tion and treatment rooms, this service operates on a sessional basis in the urban areas and in the outlying districts of the New