residents of the New Territories, mainly in the district around Sai Kung on the south-eastern part of the mainland. There was one death.
Tuberculosis
87. Cases notified during the year were 817 more than during 1958. but there was a further Fall in the mortality rate to 76.2 deaths per 100.000 estimated population. This disease is the greatest public health problem in the Colony and is considered in detail later in this report.
Influenza
88.. Influenza was made voluntarily notifiable following the wide- spread outbreak of 1957. During 1959, a total of 11,659 notifications were recorded; of these, 73% occurred in the first half of the year. There were only 26 deaths attributed to influenza.
Other commmunicable diseases which are not notifiable
Tetanus
89. Of 131 cases of tetanus reported. 76 cases were of tetanus neonatorum. The case fatality rate was high. particularly in the new born. The infection amongst the latter is attributed to the application of ground ginger root as a styptic to the umbilical cord.
90. The risk of tetanus neonatorum duc to the improper preparation of ginger root was brought to the notice of the representatives of the Chinese Herbalists and their co-operation sought to try and insure proper cleansing of the raw ginger root before it is prepared as an herbal remedy.
Food Poisoning
91. There were 527 cases of food poisoning recorded of which 81 were due to coagulase positive staphylococci.
Vaccination and Inoculation Campaigns
92. Free prophylactic vaccinations against enteric fever, diphtheria, cholera and smallpox continued to be available to members of the public at all Government Hospitals and Clinics, Port Health Inoculation Centres, and District Health Offices.
93. During April and May, the occurrence of smallpox in Singapore, a port with which Hong Kong has close links by sea and air, called for special precautions to prevent the establishment of the disease in the Colony; one of these precautions was the intensification of the annual
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vaccination campaign, resulting in a total of just over one million persons being vaccinated during 1959.
94. The anti-typhoid campaign held during the summer months produced a fairly satisfactory response. While the numbers presenting themselves for the first dose of vaccine were not as high as in some recent years, there was a marked improvement, mainly amongst school children, in those presenting themselves to receive the second inocula- tion: 29% of those initially inoculated failed to return for a second dose.
95. At the beginning of the year, an Interdepartmental Committee on Health Education was formed consisting of representatives of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, the District Administration New Territories, the Government Information Services, the Labour, Educa- tion, Urban Services, Resettlement and Medical & Health Departments under the Chairmanship of the Assistant Director of Health Services. Its initial task was, and still is, to obtain maximum co-operation by the public in all attempts to raise the level of immunity against preventable diseases posing serious public health problems. The first activity of this committee was the intensification of the annual anti-diphtheria campaign which commenced in September, An Inoculation Record Card was introduced for general distribution and it is encouraging to note that in many instances this is now regarded as an important personal document for the child; as an incentive, a plastic figurine symbolizing 'Health' was given to each child receiving the complete course of two doses of P.T.A.P. Further, there was an intensification of the general propaganda programme in support of the campaign, which received considerable support from the local Kaifong Associations, including the Women's seclions.
96. At first, the inoculations were carried out by mobile teams of inoculators visiting certain strategic points on both sides of the harbour in rotation. The initial response was good but after two months, numbers began to decline and it became apparent that to achieve a high level of immunity amongst the child population it would be necessary to offer protection against the disease as near as possible to the indivi- duals home. To affect this, inoculators were attached to teams of Health Inspectors of the Urban Services Department making their daily house inspection visits, teams were sent to squatter areas both on hillsides and rooftops and there was block-by-block coverage of Resettlement Estates. By December, it was obvious that the main sources of the disease were in Kowloon; accordingly, after the cominitments on Hong Kong Island
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