ENG-2007 — Page 216

168 Health

Health Promotion

Healthy Lifestyle

In the 2006-07 financial year, the Department of Health spent $203.8 million on health promotion initiatives. The Central Health Education Unit of the Department of Health continues to play a leading role in formulating the direction of, and providing resources for, public health education. The unit comprises professionals from different disciplines to ensure health promotion is carried out effectively.

In 2007, the unit carried out a variety of health promotion activities that involved everyone in the community. The activities included the 'Exercise Prescription Project' which promoted physical activities; health education and ways to combat influenza and avian influenza; the 'Maintain Cough Manners' campaign to urge people to observe good manners when coughing; and the publication of leaflets on health. subjects in different languages for the city's ethnic minorities.

The Department of Health launched a campaign on healthy eating, called '[email protected]' in September 2006. Since then more than half of Hong Kong's primary schools had participated in at least one of the campaign's activities, while the campaign's website recorded almost 20 million hits.

Encouraged by the drive's success, the department launched a similar campaign in 2007 on healthy eating for restaurant goers, called '[email protected]' in which more than 300 food premises took part. The campaign will be extended further in 2008 to cover all eateries.

The department's Community Liaison Division is committed to establishing close ties with District Councils and the public to promote a healthy environment in their respective districts.

The Adolescent Health Programme is another example of the department's projects designed to improve the psychosocial health of secondary school students. A total of 350 secondary schools with about 122 000 students and 4 400 parents and teachers received services under the programme in the 2006-07 school year.

Oral Health Education

Educational and promotional activities were organised throughout the year by the department's Oral Health Education Unit to stress the importance of oral health. The activities were carried out under an outreach programme, known as the 'Oral Health Education Bus' programme, designed specifically for kindergarten and pre-school students. Information on oral health is disseminated to the public through the department's oral health education homepage, www.toothclub.gov.hk, and a 24-hour interactive telephone hotline.

In September 2007, a campaign was launched to urge people to take proper care of their teeth. The Love Teeth Campaign message reads: 'It's not good enough to brush twice a day. Proper teeth cleaning technique is the way!' It advises people to use dental floss to clean their teeth and to be alert to gum disease.