Case Finding
45. In the past the large number of patients attending the Chest Clinics made large-scale case finding undesirable. With improved facilities and the decrease in the number of patients case-finding bas come to play an increasingly important role. Emphasis is being placed on symptom-motivated patients and health education techniques are being used to ensure a proper understanding of the disease. A mass Health Education Campaign lasting 2 weeks was held in April. The theme of the campaign was: 'If you have a chronic cough lasting more than one month, please have a chest X-Ray'. As a result of the campaign an estimated 10,000 persons came forward for X-ray,
FIGURE A
TUBERCULOSIS MORTALITY DY AGE & SEX
1957 - 1959 and 1967 · 1969
suffering from tuberculosis for many years and who died of its sequelae rather than from active tuberculosis. The average age of death was 56 years. Tuberculosis mortality by age and sex is shown in Figure 5.
47. During the year the notification rate rose to 277.5 per 100,000 of the population. It is believed that this rise does not represent a deterioration of the tuberculosis situation but rather the response of the general public to the mass health education campaign which resulted in people coming forward in large numbers for X-Ray, Figure 6 shows the changes which bave taken place in age and sex specific notification rates. There have been marked reductions in the incidence of the disease during childhood. There has been little change in the vulner- ability of adolescents, and there has been some reduction in the incidence of the disease amongst middle-aged adults. The high susceptibility of males, except in childhood, corresponds with the pattern recorded elsewhere in the world.
Mortality and Morbidity
46. During the year the number of deaths fell slightly. The great majority of deaths continued to occur in elderly males who had been
14
FIGURE 6
TUBERCULOSIS NOTIFICATIONS BY AGE & SEX 1957 - 1999 and 1967 - 1959
31 M AGE BELTS ARE
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H