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HEALTH

annual training capacity of about 1 130 places. One more student nurse training school and one more pupil nurse training school are planned over the next decade. The annual training capacity is to be increased from 1 130 to 1 400 for general registered nurses and from 560 to 660 for general enrolled nurses.

The training of registered psychiatric nurses is conducted at the Kwai Chung Hospital and Castle Peak Hospital, and of psychiatric enrolled nurses at Castle Peak Hospital. The average in-take capacity for psychiatric registered nurses is 160 and for enrolled nurses is 70. Three more training schools for psychiatric nurses have been planned for the coming decade to meet the steady demand for nursing care in the Mental Health Service.

The need for continued training and education for nurses is recognised. The post-basic school of the Nurse Training Unit provides post-registration courses in midwifery, health nursing and community nursing on a regular basis.

The departments of Diagnostic Sciences, Rehabilitation Sciences and Health Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic provide training for para-medical and para-dental staff, including radiographers, optometrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, medical laboratory technicians and dental technicians. There are opportunities for overseas training in specialised areas for nursing, para-medical and para-dental staff. The Chai Wan Technical Institute of the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department provides training for dispensers which is complemented by in-service departmental training. There is also in-service training for prosthetists and mould laboratory technicians in the respective units.

Government Laboratory

The Government Laboratory is responsible for the provision of comprehensive advisory and technical services in chemistry and related scientific disciplines to government depart- ments which request them. Much of the work is concerned with public health, revenue collection, law enforcement, industrial safety and protection of the environment. Some of the laboratory's individual functions are statutory.

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It continued to test food regularly for harmful additives and contaminants. These tests included surveys on colours, preservatives, toxic elements, mycotoxins, residues of hor- mones, antibiotics and pesticides as well as certain chemical carcinogens in a wide variety of foods. Much of this work has arisen from food legislation. A continuous check was kept of fallout radionuclides in imported foods following the Chernobyl accident which happened two years earlier.

The laboratory's involvement in environmental matters remained at a high level and samples of sewage and industrial effluents were frequently checked for the discharge of hazardous substances. The demand on the laboratory for the analysis of air samples continued undiminished. There was an increase in the number of requests to investigate occupational atmospheres for a wide range of chemicals. The analysis of asbestos dust continued to be an important area of interest. In addition to counting and analysis, on-site surveys were undertaken to identify the location of materials containing asbestos. The Background Radiation Monitoring Programme continued to require considerable labora- tory support in the pre-treatment of environmental samples and some selected commodities from the local food chains for ultimate radioactivity measurements.

The laboratory continued to examine monthly samples of the main cigarette brands on sale locally to determine their tar and nicotine yields. The results from this testing programme were periodically published which showed the brands ranked according to tar yield. Dutiable commodities including tobacco, wines and spirits, beer and other beverages and toilet preparations were routinely examined on behalf of the Customs and Excise