HONG KONG 2005

The Family Health Service of the Department of Health provides a comprehensive range of health promotion and disease prevention services for children from birth to five years old and women aged 64 or below. The service operates through 31 Maternal and Child Health Centres and three Woman Health Centres. Guidance on child care and parenting is provided for parents and care-givers to bring up healthy and well-adjusted children. Immunisation, health and developmental surveillance services are offered to children at maternal and child health centres. Antenatal, postnatal, family planning and cervical screening services are provided for women as appropriate. About 38 per cent of expectant mothers and 91 per cent of newborns attended maternal and child health centres in 2005. The Woman Health Service is available in the three woman health centres and 10 maternal and child health centres, providing health education, counselling and screening services to women aged 64 or below.

The government-subvented Family Planning Association of Hong Kong runs seven clinics, three youth healthcare centres, a mobile clinic, a mobile library, a reference library and seven women's clubs. The services encompass fertility regulation, women's health check-ups, pre-marital and pre-pregnancy preparation, menopause service, subfertility service, youth counselling and men's health check-ups. In 2005, over 130 000 clients were served. The Osteoporosis Clinic and the Anita Mui Health Centre were opened during the year. The association also offers family life education and sexuality education, and organises outreach activities and publicity campaigns to advocate and promote responsible parenthood and sexual and reproductive health among individuals, families and the community.

The Student Health Service of the Department of Health places emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention. Its 12 student health service centres and three special assessment centres provide health assessment, health education and individual health counselling to primary and secondary school students. The Adolescent Health Programme was introduced in the 2001-02 school year to promote psychosocial health in secondary schools. In addition, school health inspectors pay regular visits to schools to disseminate information on environmental hygiene and sanitation to safeguard the health of students. Health officers and nurses also visit schools to advise on the control of communicable diseases and organise immunisation campaigns.

The Department of Health provides health services for the elderly through 18 elderly health centres and 18 visiting health teams to enhance primary health care, improve self-care, encourage healthy living and strengthen family support so as to minimise illness and disability. Health centres for the elderly provide an integrated health service including health assessment, physical check-ups, counselling, curative treatment and health education to people aged 65 and above. Visiting health teams are in close contact with the community and residential care homes and so can conduct health promotion activities for the elderly and provide training to carers to enhance their health knowledge and skills in caring for the elderly.

The Department of Health operates 20 methadone clinics, 19 tuberculosis and chest clinics, eight social hygiene clinics, four dermatology clinics, one integrated treatment centre, three clinical genetic clinics, seven child assessment centres and other clinic services. About 7.7 million visits to these clinics were recorded in 2005. The Hospital Authority operates 74 general outpatient clinics and three Chinese medicine outpatient clinics. Additional sites and funding approval have been secured to establish six new clinics to help develop Chinese medicine practice and provide training in 'evidence-based' Chinese medicine. Efforts continued to promote the development of family medicine at these clinics and enhance the integration of primary and specialist care. Some 5.2 million visits to the Hospital Authority's general outpatient clinics and about 79 000 visits to the three Chinese medicine outpatient clinics were recorded in 2005.

Apart from public service facilities, the community may seek medical treatment from the private sector, which includes medical practitioners working in private practice and 169 clinics registered under the Medical Clinics Ordinance.

Preventive services are delivered through the School Dental Care Service Unit of the Department of Health which provides annual dental examination and basic dental care to about 414 000 children annually. A 24-hour interactive voice response system at the telephone hotline provides voice and fax information on the service and on oral health. The public can also visit the School Dental Care Service homepage (www.schooldental.gov.hk) for updated information. The Department of Health monitors the level of fluoridation in the communal water supply in order to reduce dental decay among the population. Specialist oral healthcare services are provided to hospital in-patients and those with special oral health needs. In addition, there are 11 designated dental clinics which provide emergency dental services to the public.