No.
HONGKONG.
REPORT ON THE HEALTH AND SANITARY CONDITION OF THE COLONY OF HONGKONG, FOR THE YEAR 1902.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor.
GOVERNMENT CIVIL HOSPITAL,
HONGKONG, 21st March, 1903.
SIR, I have the honour to submit, for the information of His Excellency the Governor and for transmission to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State, the Medical Report on the health and sanitary condition of the Colony of Hong- kong for the year 1902, together with the returns, &c., appended thereto.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
You obedient Servant,
J. M. ATKINSON,
Principal Civil Medical Officer.
The Honourable
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.
POPULATION.
The estimated population of the Colony for 1902 was 311,824. There were 1,200 births and 6,783 deaths, of the latter 582 were from plague.
The birth-rate was 3.8 per 1,000 as compared with 3.6 per 1,000 in 1901. The death-rate was 21.7 per 1,000 as compared with 23.5 per 1,000 in 1901.
The following figures will show the comparison of the death-rate in the Chinese and non-Chinese during the past two years :-
Non-Chinese, Chinese,
1901. .20.5 per 1,000
23.77
1902. 19.0 per 1,000 21.93
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PREVALENCE OF SICKNESS IN DIFFERENT SEASONS OF THE YEAR, AND GENERAL CHARACTER AS TO THE MILDNESS OR SEVERITY OF
THE DISEASES PREVAILING.
Small-pox.--This disease was much less prevalent than in 1901, 57 cases only being notified during the year as against 91 in 1901. As usual most of these cases occurred in the early part of the year.
Cholera. For the first time since 1888 Cholera was again epidemic in Colony. During the year, 460 cases were notified, over 300 of these occurred in the second quarter of the year.
This disease appears to have been prevalent all over the East, the Philippine Islands especially having suffered. In all likelihood it was introduced to Hong- kong from Canton.
Plague. This disease was much less prevalent than during the previous four years, 572 cases only being notified as compared with 1,651 in 1901.
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1909