HEALTH
125
and have disciplinary powers. Towards the end of the year the Society of Apothecaries in London held the third and last examination in Hong Kong for the diploma of LMSSA. Of the 82 unregistered doctors admitted, 44 passed in all parts of the examination, bringing to 128 the number of doctors who have obtained the qualification during the past three years as a result of this special arrangement with the Society.
GENERAL HEALTH
Despite the continuing basic problems of overcrowding, a restricted water supply, a rapidly increasing population, and lack of adequate housing, the general health of the Colony remained remarkably good. There was no major epidemic of any disease, and the incidence of both diphtheria and enteric fever, which had caused concern in previous years, fell appreciably. For the eighth year in succession there were no cases of any of the six quarantin- able diseases which are the subject of control under International Sanitary Regulations, and no case of animal or human rabies has been recorded since 1955.
Significant changes have occurred in the pattern of mortality during the last ten years, changes which reflect the presumed age structure of the population and improvements in medical and health measures. Deaths from infectious diseases, including those from tuberculosis (the Colony's major health problem), have shown a marked decline, because of advances in therapeutic and preven- tive medicine and also, possibly, of a rise in the general standard of health. Mortality from respiratory and gastro-intestinal diseases has declined more slowly, mainly because of the rapidly increasing child population which is particularly vulnerable to bronchopneu- monia and non-specific gastroenteritis. On the other hand, the aging of the comparatively young immigrants who entered, and remained in, the Colony during the years 1946-50 is reflected in the gradual rise in deaths from the diseases of the later years of life, notably cancer and diseases of the heart, blood vessels and brain. The rapid natural increase of population in a limited area has resulted in a rise in the number of every kind of fatal accident.