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HEALTH
nurses and midwives. The Hong Kong Medical Council is respon- sible for the registration of medical practitioners and has dis- ciplinary responsibilities under the Medical Registration Ordinance, 1957. It is not an examining body. The Dental Council, Pharmacy Board, Nurses Board and Midwives Board all maintain registers, regulate training, hold examinations leading to registration or enrolment and have disciplinary powers.
GENERAL HEALTH
Generally speaking the health of the population continued to be good against a background of overcrowding, inadequate housing and drastically restricted water supplies. Because of the failure of normal rainfall, strict water rationing had to be imposed to an extent which had not been necessary for many years. Despite this no epidemic of serious proportion occurred during the year although there was a recurrence of cholera and increased incidence of both enteric fever and bacillary dysentery. Notifications of poliomyelitis and associated deaths showed a steep decline, con- sidered to be a direct result of the intensive oral anti-poliomyelitis vaccine campaign which took place in the first half of the year. There was a drop in diphtheria notifications. The number of cases of measles notified again showed an increase over the number reported the previous year.
The toll taken by accidents at work, on the streets and in the home which required treatment in casualty departments and ad- mission to hospital continued, to rise. In the older age groups, as would be expected in any ageing population, the diseases of later life such as cancer, heart disease and cerebro-vascular accidents increased again. Tuberculosis remained the most important health problem in the Colony, accounting for more sickness and deaths than all other communicable diseases put together. There was no easing of the pressure on clinic and hospital facilities.
An important event of the year was the opening in September by the Governor of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a large acute and specialized general hospital situated in Kowloon, a description of which is included later in this chapter. The Tang Shiu-kin X-Ray Survey Centre and Dental Clinic in Hong Kong Island and the Robert Black Health Centre in Kowloon to both of which