A total of 4 796 Gonorrhoea cases was reported in 1995 showing a decreage of 3.4% from the 1984 figure. It remains the commonest sexually transmitted disease (41%). The percentage of penicillinase producing neisseria gonorrhoea (PPNG), strains detected in Hong Kong was 44.5% in 1985.
The other common sexually transmitted diseases were non gonococcal urethritis (NGU) and non specific genital infection (NSGI) (23%), genital warts (16%), syphilis (5%) and chancroid (5%). The incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases e.g. herpes genitalis (38), scabies (2%), pediculosis pubis (28) and lympho-granuloma venereum (0.2%) remained low.
Ante-natal serological screening tests carried out in all Governmental and non-Governmental antenatal centres indicated an initial VDRL positive rate of 0.52% compared with 0.538 in the previous year. of 155 positive cases referred to the social hygiene clinics, only 31 cases, (20,0%) were actually suffering from syphilis. The incidence of congenital syphilis in the year remained low, only one case reported.
The health staff were involved in epidemiological/preventive activities such as contact tracing and follow-up of defaulters and those at risk of frequent exposure. Health education in social bygiene was also emphasized through frequent health talks and the issuing of pamphlets and posters to the public.
Leprosy Service
There has been a gradual fall in the incidence of leprosy during the past two and a half decades. The number of new attendance for 1985 was 164, the number of new cases detected was 32 representing a rate of 0.59 per 100 000 of the population.
Tuberculoid cases consisted of about 40.6% of the cases. Male case predominated with a sex ratio of 1.5 to 1.
The number of contacts attended to during 1985 was 123 and all the nine leprosy cases requiring inpatient treatment were admitted into Lai Chi Kok Hospital.
Dermatology Service
The total number of attendances at the skin clinics was 60 345, including 18 530 new cases. The six common skin diseases encountered were eczema, tinea, acne, psoriasis, urticaria and lichen simplex. As in previous years, there was a very low incidence of skin cancer.
Narcotics and Drugs Administration
The department runs a methadone maintenance as well as detoxification scheme for drug addicts. There are at present 24 methadone clinics over Hong Kong operating daily including Sundays and Public Holidays.
In August 1980, a central laboratory for urine testing was opened and operated by the Government Chemist, providing a fast and efficient analytical support to the methadone clinics. The average daily attendance of the service ranges from 6 800 to 9 000 during 1985.
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Occupational Health and Hygiene Services
It
The Occupational Health Division, established within the Labour Department, provides an advisory service to the Government and the public on matters concerning the health of workers and the hygiene of workplaces. also serves a supervisory function in the observance of occupational health standards and practices. The objectives of the division are to maintain and improve the physical and mental well-being of workers, protect them against any hazard arising from employment and help them in adjusting to their tasks. The essence of the service is disease prevention and health promotion.
A prime responsibility of the division is the investigation of notified occupational diseases and potential hazards reported by the factory inspectorate. Surveys are conducted by health officers, health nurses and hygienists in teams for the monitoring of possible physical, chemical and biological hazards in the work environment. The medical examination of Government divers, compressed air workers and personnel exposed to ionizing radiation is another activity aimed at ensuring that workers are physically fit for their tasks and that the work does not adversely affect their health. The laboratory of the Occupational Health Division carries out analytical tests on biological samples from workers' urine and blood as well as other miscellaneous samples from the working environment. A total of
1 480 field surveys and 1 002 laboratory analysis were conducted in the year.
The division is also involved in the medical assessment of injured employees in Employees' Compensation cases and also deals with cases of silicosis under the Pneumoconiosis [Compensation) Ordinance.
In 1985, 399 cases of occupational diseases were confirmed, comprising 32 cases of contact dermatitis, 169 cases of compressed air illness, 179 cases of silicosis, 1 case of traumatic inflammation of tendons of hand or forearm or of the associated tendon sheath and 4 episodes of gas poisoning affecting a total of 17 workers. With the completion of MTR- Island Line, compressed air tunnelling was no longer required and accounted for the drastic drop in compressed air illness cases. The incidence rate of decompression sickness remained as less than two per hundred exposures.
There were 87 851 occupational injuries reported in 1985 and of these, 79 340 non-fatal and 216 fatal cases were processed under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.
Health Education
The Central Health Education Unit (CHED) of the Medical & Health Department is responsible for organising, co-ordinating and promoting health education activities. Under the guidance of the Health Education Co- ordination Committee, the CHEU was engaged in several major health educational campaigns in 1985.
The major activity of the year was the Adolescent Health Campaign. This was launched in support of the designation of 1985 as "International Youth Year (IYY)" by the United Nations. The major activities was an exhibition in the City Hall with colourful displays, computer games, video and slide shows and tape recordings all with relevant health themes.
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