A total of 5 008 Gonorrhoea cases was reported in 1986 showing a increase of 4.4% from the 1985 figure. It remains the commonest sexually transmitted disease (42%). The percentage of penicillinase producing neisseria gonorrhoea (PPNC) strains detected in Hong Kong was 33.7% in 1986.
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The other common sexually transmitted diseases were non gonococcal urethritis (NGU) and non specific genital infection (NSCI) (26%), genital warts (162) and syphilis (5%). The incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases e.g. chancroid (3) herpes genitalis (3), scabies (22), pediculosis pubis (2%) and lympho-granuloma venereum (0.1%) remained low.
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Ante-natal serological screening tests carried out in all Governmental and non-Governmental antenatal centres indicated an initial VDRL positive rate of 0.39% compared with 0.52% in the previous year. 150 positive cases referred to the social hygiene clinics, only 30 cases, (20.0%) were actually suffering from syphilis. No incidence of congenital syphilis was reported in the year.
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 hygiene 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 three decades. The number of new attendance for 1986 was 116, the number of new cases detected was 29 representing a rate of 0.52 per 100 000 of the population.
Tuberculoid cases consisted of about 48.3% of the cases. case predominated with a sex ratio of 1.2 to 1.
Male
The number of contacts attended to during 1986 was 67 and all the five leprosy cases requiring inpatient treatment were admitted into Lai Chi Kok Hospital.
Dermatology Service
The total number of attendances at the skin clinics in 1986 was 59 412, including 17 946 new cases. The six common skin diseases encountered were eczema, tinea, acne, verruca, 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 25 methadone clinics over Hong Kong operating daily including Sundays and Public Holidays. Since 1980, a central laboratory for urine testing has been providing analytical reports to the methadone clinics. The total number of patients registered with the scheme was 12 000 with the daily attendance of the service ranging from about 6 400 to 9 200 during 1986.
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Occupational Health and Hygiene Services
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. It 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 I 626 field surveys and 967 laboratory analyses were conducted in 1986.
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 1986, 279 cases of occupational diseases were confirmed, including 176 cases of silicosis, 31 cases of contact dermatitis, 6 cases of decompression sickness and 15 episodes of gas poisoning affecting a total of 55 workers. The number of decompression sickness cases was small and the incidence rate remained at less than two per hundred exposure.
There were 94 347 occupational injuries reported in 1986 and of these, 86 880 non-fatal and 221 fatal cases were processed under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.
Health Education
The Central Health Education Unit (CHEU) delivers health education at different levels. On the level of direct service, the unit organises campaigns, projects and various day to day activities like the 24-hour telephone information service.
On the promotion and supportive level, health education materials like leaflets, posters, slides and videos are continually produced for distributian, showing as well as loan out to voluntary agencies.
On the co-ordination and liaison level, the unit is represented in many inter-departmental committees and working groups for the implementation of various health education programmes.
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