ENG-1994 — Page 217

HEALTH

other territories. Opportunities were taken to examine how the use and practice of such medicines were regulated in those places and what problems were encountered. The visits were followed by extensive consultation with relevant professional and trade associations in Hong Kong.

In November, the working party finalised its recommendations and released the Report of the Working Party on Chinese Medicine. The major recommendation was that the government should set up a preparatory committee to establish criteria and procedures for the eventual statutory registration of practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. The preparatory committee should also advise on the formulation of legislation which would provide a framework for the promotion, development and regulation of such medicine in Hong Kong. The legislation would also provide for the establishment of a statutory body to replace the preparatory committee in due course.

While Western medicine has been the mainstream of the health care system in Hong Kong, traditional Chinese medicine does play a significant part, given its general popularity. The initiative to regulate its use and practice is a significant step in recognising the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the local health care system.

Government Laboratory

The Government Laboratory has major scientific and statutory commitments in the field of public health protection. A growing proportion of the laboratory's efforts concern, among other things, chemical surveillance of food and pharmaceutical products for the purpose of safety evaluation. Tests are frequently conducted on a wide variety of commodities to investigate the causes of any food-related complaints and suspected food poisoning.

In 1994, over 50 000 tests were carried out on food products, arising from regular surveys on the use of artificial food additives such as colours, preservatives and sweeteners and studies on the presence of contaminants such as toxic elements, mycotoxins, residues of hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and suspected chemical carcinogens. Modern techniques have increased the reliability of the tests and have extended the limits of detection to much lower levels of substances. The majority of food examined contained additives or contaminants well within legal limits.

Pharmaceutical products continued to be tested for compliance with the required standards of safety and quality before being marketed in Hong Kong or being issued to public hospitals or clinics. Chinese proprietary medicines were tested for the illegal presence of mislabelled medicine or controlled drugs, which could still be occasionally discovered in the local market.

Assessment of the possible health and safety hazards of consumer articles, such as cooking utensils, cosmetics, toys and educational materials, is an area which has expanded considerably over the past two years. In some cases, the examination of the samples confirmed the absence of any toxic or irritant compounds, while in others it revealed the existence of a hazard which was not known of previously.

The checking of cigarettes for tar and nicotine content has continued to be an important part of the laboratory's work. Results from testing, which are used extensively in anti- smoking campaigns, are published regularly.

Certification work undertaken by the laboratory in connection with suspected offences against the law also increased steadily. These offences included the illegal use of marked

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