ENG-1973 — Page 139

80

HEALTH

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 32 government dental clinics, including one mobile unit which supplements static clinic facilities.

Fluoridation of Hong Kong's urban water supply began in 1961 and most of the population now receive water which has been treated with sodium fluoride or sodium silico-fluoride. It appears from clinical observation that this measure has already brought about a reduction in the prevalence of dental caries, particularly among children, and that this benefit will become more marked in the future.

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

Ophthalmic Service

Based on three full-time outpatient centres, 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 Territories. Ophthalmic surgery is performed at the eye clinics as well as in two government hospitals, in which 38 beds are reserved for ophthalmic cases. The staff of the Ophthalmic Service also deal with ophthalmic emergencies at three casualty departments situated at the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Kwong Wah Hospitals.

Training

-

The degrees of MB, BS, conferred by the University of Hong Kong, have been recognised for registration by the General Medical Council of Great Britain since 1911. During recent years the Medical Faculty has expanded to meet Hong Kong's increasing need for doctors. Post-graduate clinical training is available, and the government maintains a programme for the training of its doctors for post-graduate qualifications. Suitable candidates, when selected, are given training under the super- vision of the clinical specialists for a period of about four years. A local officer who has completed four years continuous resident service and has been confirmed to the pensionable establishment, may be granted paid study leave to attend a course outside Hong Kong. Through this arrangement many government doctors in the past years have been given paid leave to attend courses of study overseas. In addition, opportunities are also available for doctors to sit the higher professional examina- tions in Hong Kong by arrangements with the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Australia and Edinburgh, leading to Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and Fellow- ship of the Faculty Anaesthesia, as well as the Part I Examination of the Royal Colleges of Medicine, Pathology, Obstetrics and Cynaecology, and in Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiology.

The school of physiotherapy run by the Medical and Health Department pro- duces qualified physiotherapists for the service, as well as for government-assisted