Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ11: Oral care of students

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

Question:

In response to my question regarding dental care services for secondary students at the special meetings of the Finance Committee held earlier to discuss the Estimates of Expenditure 2010-2011, the Director of Health advised that the authorities were planning to study in collaboration with the private sector (e.g. the Hong Kong Dental Association) how to extend the School Dental Care Service so that appropriate dental care services and education could be provided for secondary school students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the details of the cooperation between the Government and the private sector in providing dental care services for secondary students, and when the relevant programme is expected to be implemented;

(b) whether the Government will charge students a fee for using such services; if so, how it will set the levels of the fee; and whether the authorities have assessed the financial commitment involved in providing dental care services for secondary students; if so, of the assessment result;

(c) whether the authorities had conducted surveys on the oral health of all secondary students in Hong Kong in the past three years, so as to understand their oral health conditions and their needs for dental care services; if so, of the outcome of such surveys; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d) whether the authorities will establish a long-term mechanism for extending dental care services to all secondary students, so as to fully resolve the problem of non-availability of such services at the stage of secondary education?

Reply:

President,

(a), (b) and (d) The Working Group on Primary Care chaired by the Secretary for Food and Health has put forward a series of strategic proposals to enhance primary care services, which include enhancing primary dental services and promoting oral health. The Government is working in collaboration with the dental profession, including the Hong Kong Dental Association, to devise feasible programmes to enhance primary dental services and promote oral health. Matters to be discussed include identification of target groups, models of collaboration with the dental profession and other dental service providers (e.g. public-private partnership), subsidisation model, etc. The Government and the dental profession will also discuss whether there is a need to enhance students' oral care.

(c) The Department of Health (DH) conducted Hong Kong's first territory-wide oral health survey in 2001 to understand the oral health status and assess the oral health behaviours and habits of the Hong Kong population. The information collected could facilitate the planning and evaluation of various oral health programmes as well as the formulation of objectives for oral health services. The oral health survey was conducted in accordance with the criteria and recommendations of the World Health Organisation. The targets of the survey included members of the key index age groups, i.e. children aged 5 and 12, adults aged 35 to 44 and elders aged 65 and above, with junior secondary students being covered in the group of 12-year-old children. The findings of the 2001 survey showed that the level of tooth decay among the 12-year-old students in Hong Kong was the lowest in the world, but their gum conditions needed more attention. DH is now planning to conduct another territory-wide oral health survey to continuously monitor the oral health status of our population. There is not yet a definite timetable for the survey.


Ends/Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:18

NNNN