Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ13: Promoting oral health

Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 30):

Question:

The results of the oral health survey conducted by the Department of Health in 2001 revealed that 51% of 5-year old children and 97.5% of adults whose ages were between 35 and 44 had tooth decay problem, and 59.5% of 12-year old students were at the risk of developing gum disease. In addition, 8.6% of elderly aged above 65 who were non-institutionalised and 27.2% of those who were institutionalised were toothless. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it has, after the publication of the above survey report, implemented any measures to improve the tooth decay problem of students and adults, as well as the situation of the elderly losing their teeth; if it has, of the amount of resources allocated and the number of people benefited; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) whether it will conduct the oral health survey again to assess the health conditions of Hong Kong people's teeth;

(c) whether it will include oral health in the scope of the study of health care reform and grant subsidies to adults, especially the elderly, for comprehensive dental treatment, for example, following the Education Voucher System and issuing dental care vouchers; and

(d) whether it had, in each of the past five financial years, allocated additional resources to the School Dental Care Service and government dental clinics to enhance student dental care service and increase the number of consultation slots in such clinics for patients who are not civil servants; if it had, of the amounts of relevant provision and additional provision, as well as the increase in the number of consultation slots for patients in each year; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

The Government conducts a territory-wide Oral Health Survey every ten years to ascertain and monitor the oral health status and related behaviours of the population. The survey carried out in 2001 revealed that the oral health status of the population had been improving and was comparable to that of many developed countries. In addition, the Decayed, Missing, or Filled Teeth (DMFT) Index of 12-year-old children compared favourably with that of some developed countries, such as the United States, Canada and Japan.

(a) The Oral Health Education Unit (OHEU) of the Department of Health (DH) has all along been concerned about the oral health of the population and has strengthened its territory-wide and age-specific oral health promotion activities. As for its territory-wide promotion efforts, the OHEU developed some 95 new items of educational materials for oral health education last year. Its programmes and activities drew over 125 000 participants.

An annual "Love Teeth" Campaign has been launched by the DH with the objective of facilitating the development of a correct tooth cleaning concept among the public and teaching them the proper tooth cleaning techniques. Apart from this, the DH updates the webpage of the OHEU from time to time, and has put in place a 24-hour interactive Oral Health Education Hotline, through which the public can have ready access to oral health information.

A summary of promotion initiatives designed to meet the needs of different age groups is given below. To enhance the knowledge of pre-school children about oral health, the OHEU has been promoting the "Love Teeth with Your Kids" programme for seven consecutive years. Each year, the programme provides oral health education for over 100 000 children in kindergartens and pre-school centres, which amount to 80% of the total number of pre-school children in the territory. On top of this, the OHEU has also strengthened its outreach health education service by arranging an "Oral Health Promotion Bus" to visit primary schools across the territory to promote oral health. In order to ensure that school children will continue to take care of their oral health after they have moved on to secondary schools, the OHEU has developed a "Teens Teeth" oral health promotion programme for secondary school students. Participants are trained to organise various activities to promote oral health to their schoolmates and to teach Form One students the correct tooth cleaning techniques. In addition, under the "Patron Angel of Oral Health Programme" launched by the OHEU in collaboration with the private sector and welfare organisations since 2006, training has been provided to working adults and elder volunteers of these welfare organisations for promoting oral health education among their peers.

The expenditures arising from the above activities are covered under the vote for oral health education of the DH and a breakdown is not available. The allocation of this vote for 2007-08 is $21 million.

(b) The territory-wide Oral Health Survey conducted by the DH every ten years aims to get a general picture of the oral health status and related behaviours of the population. With the last one conducted in 2001, the next territory-wide Oral Health Survey is scheduled to be conducted in 2011. This policy is similar to that of other developed countries.

(c) Following public consultations on the recommendations for the future service delivery model of our healthcare system by the Health and Medical Development Advisory Committee (HMDAC) in 2005, we are now in the process of examining detailed proposals for individual healthcare service reforms and healthcare financing arrangements. We plan to release a document for public consultation later this year. At this juncture, we will first deal with primary health care issues, rationalise the imbalance between the public and private sectors, and explore long-term healthcare financing arrangements. As for other services, such as public dental service, we will consider our working priorities in the long run having regard to the views of the public.

(d) The Government's policy on dental services is 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. As our service policy is oriented towards prevention, and most of the general public usually seek dental services in the private sector, we do not have any plan to expand the public dental services in Hong Kong for the time being. For this reason, the DH has not allocated additional resources to the provision of extra School Dental Care Service and public dental services for the past five financial years.


Ends/Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:54

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