!
Kowloon there were increases of 910 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and 388 at Kwun Tong, the latter increase against the trend no doubt reflecting the continued development of the area. Substantial decreases were, however, recorded elsewhere, 2,017 at the Farm Road Registry, 1,106 at Yau Ma Tei, 1,619 at Sham Shui Po, and 1,712 at Kwong Wah Hospital. In the New Territories decreases were recorded in all areas with two unimportant exceptions.
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159. 527 multiple births were registered in 1966, 522 of twins and 5 of triplets, producing altogether 1,059 liveborn babies. 67 births were registered as illegitimate, as compared with 72 in 1965. The births registered also included 30 foundlings.
Post Registration of Births
160. Owing to the absence of facilities for registration in the New Territories until 1932, very few births in the villages were registered before then. In that year facilities were provided for registration at various places in the New Territories, but a great many villagers still neglected to register the births of their children. Under modern condi- tions a birth certificate has, at least for the young, become practically essential, and for many years past there has been a constant flow of applications to post-register births in the New Territories. To deal with these, three mobile teams have been operating throughout the year, visiting outlying villages according to a regular programme.
161. During 1966-67, 2,103 births were post-registered more than one year after the date of birth, as follows:
Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Kowloon
New Territories:
Islands District
Sai Kung District
Tai Po District
Tsuen Wan District
Yuen Long District
Total
:
:
1,037
79
92
274
89
532
1,066
2,103
This total represented a decrease of 1,520 on the 1965-66 total. At one time there used to be long waiting lists of applicants, but the substantial reduction in the number of applications since the peak of 7,124 in 1962-63 has enabled the registration teams to reduce delays to the minimum required for the process of verification, and by 31st March 1967 the total number of applications on the waiting list for all districts,
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