ENG-1985 — Page 159

HEALTH

Dental Services

115

The School Dental Care Service provides regular dental examination and treatment services to primary school children. Essentially preventive in nature, the service has proved to be an appropriate and cost effective means of promoting dental health among school children. The response from parents and school authorities has been most encouraging; some 284 800 children, 64.1 per cent of Primary 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 pupils, participated during 1985-6, compared with 65.9 per cent of Primary 1, 2, 3 and 4 in 1984–5. Four school dental clinics have been established and five more are planned for the next four years. Dental health education programmes, involving lectures and exhibitions, are held to promote dental health awareness in children and adults.

The Government Dental Service provides dental care for all monthly-paid government servants and their dependants, as well as simple dental treatment for inmates of penal institutions and specialist treatment for patients in government hospitals. Emergency treatment is also provided for the public at a number of district dental clinics.

Port Health

The Port Health Service enforces control at Hong Kong International Airport and in the territory's waters to prevent the introduction of quarantinable diseases and to carry out other measures required under the International Health Regulations.

The service provides facilities for vaccination and the issuing of international vaccination certificates. It also inspects and supervises the eradication of rats from ships on interna- tional voyages. It provides medical assistance to ships in the harbour, transmits medical advice to ships at sea, operates a 24-hour health clearance service for all incoming vessels, and grants radio pratique to ships.

The health staff also maintain close surveillance of the food catering service provided for international airlines to ensure that food and water supplied to flight kitchens is clean and safe. Epidemiological information is exchanged regularly with the World Health Organisa- tion in Geneva and its Western Pacific regional office in Manila, and with neighbouring countries.

Special Services

The Pathology Service provides clinical and public health laboratory services for govern- ment hospitals and clinics, and a consultant service for the government-assisted sector. It also administers hospital mortuaries and blood banks. The Institute of Immunology produces vaccine and other biological products for use in the local health services. The Virus Unit provides a central laboratory service for the diagnosis and surveillance of viral infections and valuable services for the screening, assessment and guidance of vaccination programmes against viral infections.

A Central Neo-natal Screening Laboratory was established in 1984, in the Kwong Wah Hospital on a temporary basis. The main function of this unit is to co-ordinate the labora- tory activities of the territory-wide neo-natal screening programme on congenital hypothyroidism and glucose-6-phosphatase dehydrogenose deficiency. In 1985, facilities for the screening and diagnosis of AIDS were incorporated into the virus laboratory in the Queen Mary Hospital and in the Immunological Laboratory in the Yan Oi Pathology Institute, Tuen Mun.

The Forensic Pathology Service, through its forensic laboratory, works closely with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force on the medical aspects of criminology and other medical-legal work. It also administers public mortuaries.