ENG-1998 — Page 222

HEALTH

170

Under amendments in 1997 to the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance, the sale of tobacco products from vending machines and tobacco advertisements on the Internet were prohibited with effect from April 1, 1998, and indoor public areas in shopping malls, department stores, supermarkets and banks became no-smoking areas on July 1.

Training of Medical and Health Personnel

The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong provide basic training of doctors. They took in 170 and 169 medical students, respectively, in 1998. Under the Licentiate Scheme of the Hong Kong Medical Council, 16 externally-trained doctors passed the Licensing Examination in 1998.

The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is an independent statutory body with the authority to approve, assess and accredit all post-internship medical training. Its 15 colleges conduct training and examinations to award specialist qualifications to qualifying candidates.

The School of Public Health Nursing in the Department of Health provided a full- time in-service training programme for the department's registered nurses which leads to a diploma in public health nursing studies. It also runs various short courses for enhancing and updating professional knowledge of all grades of the department's

nurses.

Training in dentistry is available at the University of Hong Kong, which produced 43 dentists in 1998.

Government Laboratory

The Government Laboratory regularly examines food, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods for the protection of public health.

In 1998, it conducted 64 862 tests on food products to ensure their fitness for consumption. The unexpected occurrence of beta-agonists (clenbuterol and salbutamol) in pork and pig offal increased the laboratory's workload but also facilitated exchanges with testing authorities on the Mainland. Consequently, the State Administration of Exit and Entry Inspection and Quarantine adopted the analytical scheme developed by the laboratory as its standard test procedure.

Stricter control led to an increase in the testing of pharmaceuticals purchased or manufactured by the government and pharmaceuticals registered under the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations. In all, 17 622 tests were performed on western drugs. A new Chinese Medicines Section was established to prepare for future regulation over the use of Chinese medicines and 9 866 tests were conducted, mainly for research and survey purposes. When the new legislation is in place, the section will be expanded to support enforcement work.

The safety features of consumer products continued to attract public concern and 25 386 tests were conducted on consumer products, including children's cots, toys, cosmetics, polyurethane-foam furniture and cooking utensils. A significant portion of these failed safety specifications. Other aspects of work in consumer protection included authenticity verification of wines and spirits, calibration of balances and fineness determination of gold and platinum articles.