ENG-1984 — Page 189

HEALTH

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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.

Environmental Hygiene

The work of the Urban Services Department includes street cleansing, the collection and removal of refuse and nightsoil, the management of public toilets and bathhouses, pest control, and the disposal of the dead. An important role is also the control of food hygiene. A regular workforce of 6 200 in the urban areas and 3 350 in the New Territories is employed in cleansing duties. The cleansing force is equipped with a fleet of 639 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 3 620 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.

Although the Clean Hong Kong Campaign formally ended in December 1982, the government continued to maintain the higher standard of cleanliness achieved. In 1984, a programme in six phases was put into operation covering housing estates, block cleansing, villages, squatter areas, beaches and countryside and including a general beautification programme. In addition to education, publicity and community involvement, law enforce- ment remained the major tactic in the fight against litter. During 1984, a total of 50 632 people were fined for litter offences.

Controls

Health inspectors regularly inspect licensed and permitted premises, common parts of residential and commercial buildings, construction and vacant sites and squatter areas to enforce the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation so as to maintain and improve standards of hygiene. Special inspections are also carried out to deal with complaints relating to vermin infestation and unhygienic conditions. The Urban Services Department also works closely with the staff of the Medical and Health Department in the investigation and control of food poisoning outbreaks and infectious diseases.

Integrated programmes are carried out to prevent and control rodents, mosquitoes, flies and other public health pests. Measures taken during the year included environ- mental improvements, public health education campaigns, the destruction of breeding places, the use of pesticides and law enforcement. Pest control teams also combat vector- borne diseases.

Additional emphasis was placed on the education of the younger generation through teaching, participation schemes and the mass media. The health education section of the Urban Services Department organised talks, instruction courses, contests and competitions for students and youth groups to stimulate their awareness of and concern for public health matters. Throughout the year, a number of educational campaigns on environmental and food hygiene were also launched. Lectures, seminars and courses on various topics of public health were arranged for food service workers, leaders of voluntary welfare agencies, mutual aid committee members, elderly people and Vietnamese refugees. Efforts were