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HEALTH

Health education is extended to expectant mothers at major government hospitals, with particular emphasis placed on the promotion of breastfeeding. A telephone service is available to answer enquiries from the public.

The government-subvented Family Planning Association of Hong Kong runs 30 birth control clinics. It provides services in such areas as premarital counselling, contraception, sterilisation, vasectomy, and sub-fertility.

During the year, the association also placed emphasis on health education promotional work involving family planning and sex education.

School Health

The School Medical Service Scheme is operated by an independent School Medical Service Board. Participation is voluntary and for a token fee of $10 a year children from Primary 1 to Form 3 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. The general response to the scheme is good: more than 310 000 school children from 842 schools have participated - representing about 40 per cent of the eligible school population – and more than 290 general medical practitioners have enlisted.

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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 to advise on matters concerning the health of children and organise health education activities and immunisation campaigns.

Mental Health

The Mental Health Service, in conjunction with academic and voluntary bodies, provides a comprehensive psychiatric service for the mentally ill. Sophisticated treatment facilities are available at the two major psychiatric hospitals - Castle Peak Hospital with 1 935 beds and Kwai Chung Hospital with 1 090 beds - and at psychiatric units in various regional and district hospitals. In line with the universal trend of operating smaller psychiatric units within general hospitals, an additional 2 410 beds are planned for such future projects.

Supplementing the hospital facilities are psychiatric day centres which provide a wide range of out-patient treatment, assessment, counselling and after-care services on a regional basis. The centres also operate day hospital places and provide other social, occupational and recreational therapy services for the mentally ill.

Special emphasis is placed on the follow-up and after-care of discharged mental patients during their reintegration into the community. During the year, the Community Psychiatric Nursing Service provided continuity in after-care treatment programmes to patients dis- charged from the Castle Peak Hospital and the Kwai Chung Hospital, and to patients referred from out-patient psychiatric clinics as well. Other complementary rehabilitative supporting services include after-care social services, placement services, halfway houses, long-stay care homes and social clubs organised by various agencies.

These services are closely monitored and co-ordinated by the Rehabilitation Develop- ment Co-ordinating Committee.

Severely mentally handicapped persons requiring intensive nursing and medical treat- ment are cared for at the 200-bed Siu Lam Hospital and the Caritas Medical Centre, which has 300 beds for this purpose. A further 700 beds in this category have been planned for the next decade to meet the continuing need.