Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region
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and operated by the Department of Health .
Maintenance entails a dose each day, with
the price remaining stable for many years
at HK$1 (US$0 .13) . The operating times of
the service are extensive: six operate as full
day clinics from 7am to 10pm, while the rest
operate in the evening from 6pm to 10pm .
They operate seven days a week, all year round
and, during typhoons, a system is in place
to service clients in predetermined central
locations . There are generally no nurses
employed at these clinics, with the dispensing
of methadone left to trained Auxiliary
Medical Services, mainly volunteers who
work in these sites for a modest hourly payment
. No take-home medication is permitted
and there is no ‘waiting list’ for methadone
since the program was implemented . The
methadone program has a high coverage and
services 7000–9000 drug users on a daily
basis with up to 98 per cent on maintenance .
In 2003, the average daily attendance was
7056, while in 2000 it was 6501 (Ch’ien,
Lee & Stadlin, 2002; Lee, 2004a; Narcotics
Division, 2001, 2004c; Newman, 2004) . In
2004, universal voluntary HIV screening
using urine specimen commenced with
an aim to cover at least 75 per cent of all
registered drug users (Lee, 2004b) .
As of 2005 it has been reported by the Hong
Kong Government that there will be a HK$7 .67
million allocation from the Beat Drugs Fund
for 20 anti-drug projects in the 2005–06
funding exercise, bringing the total number of
projects sponsored to 289 and the funds dis-
bursed to HK$133 .76 million since the fund’s
establishment in 1996 . Of the 20 projects
approved, 12 are related to preventive education
and publicity (HK$476 .7 million), three
to treatment and rehabilitation (HK$678,380),
one to research (HK$120,000), and four to
mixed-type projects (HK$2,103,364) . The
mixed-type projects, preventive education
and publicity-related projects cover activities
targeting high-risk youths, parents, teachers
and youth workers as well as families with
children with disabilities, single parents, new
arrivals and ethnic minority groups (Hong
Kong Government, 2005) .
Other responses
School-based education
The Narcotics Division works with ACAN,
NGOs and government bodies to reach
young people with anti-drug messages . In
the 2002–2003 school year anti-drug talks
were delivered to over 100,000 students . Drug
education programs are provided to primary
and secondary school students, as well as
students at the English School Foundation,
international schools and the Hong Kong
Institute for Vocational Education . The focus
of the program covers common drugs of use,
harmful effects, reasons for drug use and
refusal skills . In 2004, there were 13 programs
for over 4000 parents and 73 programs for
youth and people at the workplace (Narcotics
Division, 2004e; United States Department of
State, Bureau for International Narcotics and
Law Enforcement Affairs, 2004a) .
Community development
In 2003, community organisations conducted
20 anti-drug projects funded by government .
A 24-hour, anti-drug abuse hotline provides
information on how to manage abuse by
young people in association with drug use,
as well as information about preventive education,
treatment and rehabilitation services
provided by government and voluntary
agencies .
The Hong Kong Jockey Club ‘Drug InfoCentre’,
open since 2004, is a permanent education
centre dedicated to drug prevention . The objective
of the Centre is to educate the public
about drugs, the harms caused and methods
of prevention .
Numerous anti-drug publicity campaigns are
held throughout the year using the medium
of television, radio and advertisements .
Each year on 26 June Hong Kong holds the
International Day Against Drug Abuse and
Illicit Trafficking (Cheong, 2004; Narcotics
Division, 2004c, 2004e) .
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Country profiles: Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region, China)