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Following is a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Tsang Yok-sing on services provided to young people abusing psychoactive drugs in the Legislative Council today (June 13):
Question:
It has been reported that due to shortage in resources, the Kwai Chung Hospital under the Hospital Authority has ceased to provide medical examination and early treatment services to young people abusing psychoactive drugs in recent months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the past three years saw an upward trend in the number of young people abusing drugs (including early-stage drug abusers), please illustrate with specific figures;
(b) of the number of young people served in the three years before the cessation of the service and the effectiveness of such service; and
(c) of the measures it has adopted to assist young people in need of the such service after cessation of the service?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) According to the "Central Registry of Drug Abuse" (Note), the number of reported young drug abusers aged under 21 has increased over the past three years:
2004 2005 2005/04 2006 2006/05
(% increase) (% increase)
---- ---- ------------ ---- ------------
2,186 2,276 4.1% 2,549 12%
(b) According to the information provided by the Hospital Authority (HA), the early screening programme at Kwai Chung Hospital for young people aged under 25 for physical and mental problems caused by drug abuse recruited 168 young psychotropic substance abusers. Upon body check-up and motivational counselling with these 168 abusers:
* 46 of them were willing to undergo treatment to quit drugs. The abstinence rate for these 46 persons was 66% one year later.
* 31 were referred to other specialties for treatment due to physical health problems.
* 16 were given psychiatric treatment due to mental health problems.
* The remaining 75 did not accept or receive follow-up service through Kwai Chung Hospital.
The substance abuse clinics (SACs) of HA mainly provide treatment to persons with mental health problems caused by substance abuse (including drug abuse). Although these clinics are not meant for providing physical check-up and health assessment in general, Kwai Chung Hospital applied and received funding support from the Beat Drugs Fund to launch a body check-up programme from September 2002 to February 2004 to provide the early screening service.
(c) To address the psychotropic substance abuse problem among the youth, the Administration is enhancing early intervention services, including body check and early treatment services and preventive education to educate youngsters on the harms of drug abuse.
(i) A working group has been set up under the Treatment and Rehabilitation Sub-Committee of the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) to draw up measures to strengthen co-operation between private medical practitioners and social workers. The aim is to tap the professional expertise of medical practitioners to address the medical needs of abusers, and to widen the network for preventive education and early intervention at the community level. Abusers, in particular young and occasional abusers, will be given medical advice and treatment, or referred to counselling or other services at an early stage. In 2007-08 we will launch a pilot co-operation scheme, involving body check and early treatment services.
(ii) The Beat Drugs Fund has provided funding support to a number of organisations since 2005-06 for projects which involved the use of health check and related intervention techniques to help young substance abusers.
(iii) The New Territories West Cluster of HA also joins hands with voluntary organisations to provide about four to six sessions of voluntary outreaching service each year to young substance abusers of the region, involving drug education, health screening and assessment. Cases will be referred to relevant organisations for follow-up services if needed.
(iv) Five Counselling Centres for Psychotropic Substance Abusers (CCPSAs), specifically set up to tackle the problem of psychotropic substance abuse, work closely with healthcare professionals and other anti-drug organisations in helping the youth at risk and drug abusers. We have provided these centres with additional resources starting from April this year to strengthen outreaching services, and collaboration with other stakeholders to identify young drug abusers for early treatment.
As regards the recent case of students suspected of abusing drugs in school, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that the Administration is very concerned about the youth drug abuse situation. We will spare no efforts and combat the problem on all fronts. Apart from the above initiatives, we will take forward various measures including strengthening the liaison between schools and the Police, organising seminars for teachers and social workers on anti-drug education, engaging parents actively in drug prevention education for their children and intensifying publicity targeting the youth. We will continue to tap the views of ACAN, anti-drug workers and the public in formulating anti-drug initiatives. We will enhance our partnership with various sectors of the community, including schools, parents, social workers, medical workers, academia, and the media in the fight against drugs.
Note: The "Central Registry of Drug Abuse" tracks the changing trend and collates statistical information regarding drug abuse. Drug abusers' information is submitted by a network of reporting agencies voluntarily. The reporting network is extensive, covering law enforcement agencies, treatment and rehabilitation organisations, welfare agencies, tertiary institutions, hospitals and clinics.
Ends/Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:55
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