Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ8: Dental services
Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written
reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the
Legislative Council today (June 1):
Question:
At present, the Government only provides dental care services to
primary school students, but quite a number of members of the public have
recently relayed to me that junior secondary school (Form 1 to Form 3)
students also have strong demand for dental treatment services, and they
thus request the Government to extend the dental care services to junior
secondary school students. In this connection, will the Government inform
this Council:
(a) of the number of attendances for dental treatment under the School
Dental Care Service in each of the past three years;
(b) whether the Government has planned to extend the dental care services
to junior secondary school students in order to enhance the dental and
oral health care for them; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons
for that; and
(c) whether the Government has planned to bring in private dental
practitioners to join the School Dental Care Service so as to provide
dental services to junior secondary school students; if it has, of the
details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The numbers of participants of the School Dental Care Service over the
past three years are as follows:
Service Number of Percentage against
Year participating the total number
students of
school students
2007/2008 365,643 95%
2008/2009 346,672 94.3%
2009/2010 328,308 95%
Note: Service year refers to the period from November 1 every year to
October 31 of the following year.
(b) and (c) The Government's policy on dental services seeks to improve
oral health and prevent dental diseases through promotion and education,
thereby raising public awareness of oral health, and facilitating the
development of proper oral health habits. The Oral Health Education Unit
under the Department of Health (DH) has launched various educational and
promotional programmes specifically for different age groups having regard
to their dental care needs. To encourage primary school students to
establish good oral health care habits to prevent dental diseases, we have
launched the School Dental Care Service.
To help secondary school students pay constant attention to oral
health, we have launched the "Teens Teeth" oral health promotion programme
to train selected "peer leaders" to help organise oral health promotion
activities to disseminate oral health messages to fellow students, and
teach Form one students to develop good oral health care habits.
Since 2003, DH has launched the annual "Love Teeth
Campaigns". Specific thematic messages are delivered through televisions,
newspapers, radio programmes and posters at the Mass Transit Railway to
promote oral health and good oral care skills to the community.
In 2001, DH conducted a territory-wide oral health survey in
accordance with the criteria and recommendations of the World Health
Organisation. The targets of the survey were members of the key index age
groups, including:
i) 5-year-old children
ii) 12-year-old children
iii) 35-44-year-old adults
iv) 65 and above non-institutionalised elderly people
v) 65 and above elderly people residing in residential care homes.
According to the survey, the oral health status of the Hong Kong
population was found to be in the same ranking as many other developed
countries. The level of tooth decay among the 12-year-old students was
among the world's lowest but their gum condition needed more attention.
DH is now conducting another territory-wide oral health survey to
continuously monitor the oral health status of our population and assess
their oral health behaviours and habits. The information collected could
facilitate our planning of oral health programmes for different population
groups (including secondary school students).
At present, we focus our efforts on providing emergency dental
services for the public. DH provides free emergency dental services,
covering treatment of acute dental diseases, prescription for pain relief,
treatment of oral abscess and teeth extraction through its 11 government
dental clinics. DH's dentists would also give professional advice with
regard to the individual needs of patients.
Moreover, the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has formed the Task Force
on Primary Dental Care and Oral Health under the Working Group of Primary
Care since December 2010 to, among other things, provide advice on
initiatives to promote and enhance primary dental care and oral
health. It comprises members from the dental profession, academics,
patient groups, Hospital Authority and representatives from FHB, DH and
Social Welfare Department.
The Task Force has advised that priority should be given to improving
oral health of and dental care for needy elderly. The Government has thus
launched a pilot project in partnership with non-government organisations
for a period of three years to provide elderly people residing in
residential care homes or receiving services in day care centres with
outreach primary dental care and oral health care services since April
2011. The Task Force will further consider the oral health status and
dental care needs of the different population groups including secondary
school students with a view to advising on feasible strategies to improve
their oral health.
Ends/Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:16
NNNN