ENG-2006 — Page 387

Public Order | 319

Treatment and Rehabilitation

Hong Kong provides a variety of treatment and rehabilitation services to help drug abusers from different backgrounds kick the habit.

The major drug treatment and rehabilitation services include a compulsory drug treatment programme run by the Correctional Services Department, a voluntary methadone out-patient treatment programme provided by the Department of Health, and voluntary residential programmes run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Medical and psychiatric treatment for psychotropic substance abusers is provided by five substance abuse clinics under the Hospital Authority. In addition, five Counselling Centres for Psychotropic Substance Abusers operated by NGOs are subvented by the Social Welfare Department to provide community-based treatment services to psychotropic substance abusers.

Under the Drug Dependent Persons Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres (Licensing) Ordinance, centres offering in-house voluntary treatment to four or more people need to be licensed by the Social Welfare Department to make sure that the centres meet present-day safety and management requirements. By year-end, 28 Certificates of Exemption were issued to centres that were operating before the ordinance came into effect, and 11 centres that were already operating with a valid licence.

Following a recommendation in the Third Three-Year Plan on Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Services in Hong Kong (2003-05), the ND commissioned the School of Continuing Education of Baptist University in Hong Kong to provide the first-ever structured professional certificate course for anti-drug social workers and peer counsellors. The course ran from February to July 2006 with 68 participants being given the certificate on completion of the course. A pilot service information system was also launched in July to gather data for drawing up standards for local drug treatment services to follow. This is also part of the recommendations made in the 2003-05 plan.

The Fourth Three-Year Plan on Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Services in Hong Kong (2006-08) was introduced in March 2006. Its key recommendations include promoting reintegration of ex-drug abusers into the community and strengthening cooperation between medical practitioners and NGOs to address the medical needs of drug abusers and to extend the scope for early intervention.

Preventive Education and Publicity

In 2006, the ND provided 585 anti-drug talks to 79 800 students attending. Primary 4, 5, and 6 schools, secondary level schools and students at the English Schools Foundation and international schools. This was the first year that anti-drug talks were given to Primary 4 students. Workshops and seminars were also organised for teachers, social workers and parents. In 2006, four workshops were held for teachers and school social workers. Since parents play a vital role in drugs prevention education, the ND, for the first time, organised two seminars for parents in April and September 2006 in the Sha Tin Town Hall and Yuen Long Theatre respectively. About 830 parents attended. In collaboration with Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Co