A.
HEALTH
85
health services in Hong Kong notably, in family health, school health, mental health, occupational health, port health, the control of communicable diseases, community nursing and psychiatric community nursing.
To promote adequate standards of practice among the paramedical professions, new legislation was introduced to control medical laboratory technicians, radiographers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, while in another area, amendments were made to the Pharmacy and Poison Ordinance to tighten controls over the export and import of pharmaceutical products.
For the 1980-1 financial year the Medical and Health Department's estimated expendi- ture is $827.7 million. In addition, subventions totalling about $444.5 million are being made to many non-government medical institutions and organisations. The estimated capital expenditure on hospitals and other buildings, including furniture and equipment, is $245.9 million.
Health of the Community
Hong Kong people continue to enjoy good general health, assisted by improvements in promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health measures which have contributed to low mortality rates and a decline in the incidence of major communicable diseases.
The main causes of death are various forms of cancer, heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The low infant mortality is attributed to continuing improvements in family health care as well as widespread advances in environmental and socio-economic conditions.
No quarantinable diseases were reported in 1980.
Toward the end of the year, two cases of rabies occurred in remote villages in the New Territories, thus terminating Hong Kong's long record of being free from the disease. In October, an eight-year-old boy died after being bitten by a dog about one month earlier. His death was the first locally-originating fatality from rabies in 25 years. Some weeks later, in November, a 75-year-old man also died after he was bitten by his own dog.
Following the death of the boy, the Agriculture and Fisheries Department took swift action on a number of fronts: it stepped up stray dog patrols, urged people to come forward to have their dogs inoculated free of charge, and created a restricted zone under which the movement of dogs was prohibited into and out of the area in the New Territories where the first case had occurred. Later, this zone was extended in stages over a 390 square- kilometre area of the New Territories following the rabies death of the elderly man and of 10 dogs and a cat.
The Medical and Health Department carried out additional measures to protect the population. These included setting up a medical advisory committee on rabies - consisting of professorial staff from the University of Hong Kong Medical School and consultants of the government medical services - and the designation of five centres for the pre-exposure prophylaxis and post-exposure treatment of the disease.
The incidence of tuberculosis and the number of deaths resulting from it continued to fall. With the BCG vaccination coverage of new-born babies now almost 99 per cent, tuberculosis among young people is rare.
There was an increase in the number of viral hepatitis cases in line with a pattern of upsurge every three years.
Venereal diseases continued to be treated free of charge at social hygiene clinics. Together with ante-natal blood testing, contact tracing and follow-up of defaulters, effective control has been maintained over sexually-transmitted diseases.