ENG-1983 — Page 146

HEALTH

101

organisations. The centre produced a range of anti-drug publications during the year, as well as films and slides, and handled requests for information on drug abuse from the public.

-

During 1983, the Drug Abuse Telephone Enquiry Service received 1 344 enquiries from both addicts and non-addicts. Most enquiries were related to drug addiction treatment facilities. Externally, Hong Kong continued to play an active and important part in international anti-narcotics operations by maintaining close links with the United Nations, inter- and with government agencies such as the Colombo Plan Bureau and Interpol individual governments in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. During 1983, Hong Kong took part in 13 international meetings concerned with anti-drug law enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation, and preventive education. Hong Kong also made its ninth annual contribution of $100,000 to the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control in support of its world-wide anti-narcotics efforts. These include the opium poppy crop- substitution programme in the 'Golden Triangle' where the boundaries of Burma, Laos and Thailand meet and from where most of Hong Kong's opiate drugs come.

The techniques and methods employed by Hong Kong in its anti-narcotics work have made it an important venue for training anti-narcotics personnel from other countries. In 1983, 129 anti-narcotics officers from various countries came to Hong Kong on study visits and training courses, either through bilateral arrangements with their governments or under the sponsorship of United Nations bodies such as the World Health Organisation or the Colombo Plan Bureau. At the same time, experienced officers from the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department frequently went overseas to act as lecturers or consultants on training courses related to anti-drug work.

Despite Hong Kong's co-ordinated and strenuous efforts in combatting narcotics trafficking and abuse, there is a rising trend in the involvement of young people in drugs and in prosecutions for drug offences. More emphasis is to be placed on preventive education in schools and on the treatment and rehabilitation of young addicts.

Environmental Hygiene

The work of the Urban Services Department includes street cleaning, the collection and removal of refuse and nightsoil, the management of public toilets and bathhouses, pest control, the control of food hygiene and the disposal of the dead.

A regular workforce of some 6 000 in the urban areas and 3 450 in the New Territories is employed in cleansing duties. The cleansing force is equipped with a fleet of 644 vehicles, including specialised refuse-collection vehicles, street-washing vehicles, mechanical sweepers, nightsoil collectors and gully emptiers.

All streets are swept at least once daily, either mechanically or manually, while busier thoroughfares are swept from four to eight times a day. A daily refuse collection service is provided to all built-up areas in the territory and about 3 770 tonnes of refuse and junk are collected every day. There is also a free nightsoil collection service for the few remaining areas which do not have a water-borne sewage disposal system.

The Clean Hong Kong campaign which ended in December 1982 was quite successful in improving the general standard of cleanliness. In 1983, the government sought to maintain the standards of cleanliness achieved. A programme of six phases was put into operation covering housing estates, block cleansing, villages, squatter areas, beaches and country- side, and including a general beautification programme. Law enforcement continued to be emphasised in the fight against litter. During 1983, a total of 53 496 people were fined for litter offences.