842
THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, SEPTEMBER 11, 1936.
(b) Is it a fact that the said loan was suddenly terminated? If the answer is in the affirmative, were any reasons given for terminating the said loan and, if so, what were the reasons? (e) Is it a fact that since the withdrawal of the radium mentioned above, there has been no radium available at the Government Civil Hospital and other Government Hospitals, for the use of the general public?
2. Will Government consider the question of providing radium, under the control of the Honourable the Director of Medical and Sanitary Services, for the use of the general public? And will Government consider the suitability of utilising, either wholly or in part, the proposed King George the Fifth Memorial Fund for the acquisition of radium for Hong Kong, so that it will be available to the poorest class in the community?
The Colonial Secretary replied as follows:-
1.-(a) Since 1929 radium has been lent to the Government by the Trustees of the Matilda Hospital. The terms of the loan were embodied in regulations drawn up by that institution designed mainly to safeguard the custody of the radium. The regulations also included the following stipulations:-
Regulation 5.-No charge shall be made to any patient for the
radium used in his or her treatment.
Regulation 7.-Under no circumstances may a doctor lend the radium to a third party. In the Government Civil Hospital however where radium is lent to the radiologist he may lend such radium to the heads of the Surgical and Gynaecological Units for use in the Government Civil Hospital or Tsan Yuk Hospitals only.
Regulation 11.—Each doctor who gets the use of radium agrees to furnish a quarterly report to the Superintendent of the Matilda Hospital on the special report forms supplied by the Matilda Hospital. This is in order that information and experience may be accumulated in the use of radium.
(6) The loan was terminated on 22nd May this year. The reasons given were that for the earlier part of 1936 the quarterly reports referred to above had not been supplied; that radium had been used for the treatment of European patients at the Government Civil Hospital; and that the Medical Officer in Charge of the Matilda Hospital had not been given the facilities for exercising supervision of the use of radium in Government Hospitals required by the Trustees of the Matilda Hospital and by the Insurance Company. It is observed. with regard to these points that the omission on this one occasion was due to an oversight which could have been corrected at once had attention been drawn to it; secondly that the conditions on which the loan was made contained no such discrimination; and thirdly, that the Government Radiologist is fully qualified to super- vise the use of radium, and that outside supervision is not a condi- tion of the loan regulations.
(c) The Government possesses 20 milligrammes of radium. This amount is inadequate to meet the number of cases in need of radium treat- ment. On two occasions since the withdrawal of the loan the Hospital has granted the Government temporary use of the radium. for treatment of a special case.
2. The Government is approaching the Trustees of the Matilda Hospital with
a view to securing, if possible, the renewal of the loan.
If this proves impossible the Government will consider other means of providing radium for the use of the general public. The question of a Memorial Fund is still under consideration but, having regard to certain difficul- ties of care and custody, it is considered more satisfactory that radium should be purchased from the funds of the Colony rather than by the use of publicly subscribed money.