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APPENDIX H.
REPORT OF THE REGISTRAR OF BIRTHS & DEATHS.
The Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance of 1896, which up till 1911 applied only to the Colony Proper, was in the latter year extended to cover the New Territories. Though applicable to the New Territories for 20 years it had not been enforced and the number of registrations both of births and of deaths forms such a small proportion of the whole that in calculating birth rates and death rates for the Colony the figures from the New Territories were ignored.
On the 1st of January 1932 the Director of Medical and Sanitary Services became Registrar of Births and Deaths taking over those duties from the Head of the Sanitary Department who up till then had been responsible for registration.
The machinery for the registration of births and deaths in Hong Kong is somewhat complicated and must be studied to be understood. There is a Registrar, and a number of Deputy Registrars. There is a general Registry Offices at Medical Headquarters in Victoria. There are a number of District Registry Offices for the registration of Chinese deaths and a separate set of District Registry Offices for the registration of Chinese births. In the New Territories there are District Registrar Offices for Chinese births and deaths.
Chinese can register births and deaths in the districts in which they are living but non-Chinese whether in the New Territories, Kowloon, or on the island of Hong Kong, are obliged to register at the General Registry Office in Victoria.
Why there should be this distinction with regard to race is not clear and it is hoped to bring about a change in the law whereby all will be treated alike.
Death registration in the Colony Proper being a necessary preliminary to a permit to bury it may be taken for granted that practically all deaths are registered. Most deaths in the New Territories were not registered.
Before registering the Registrar or Assistant Registrar must be satisfied that the cause of death given is the true cause and in case of doubt it is his duty to institute or cause to be instituted immediate enquiries with a view to ascertaining the true cause of death.
The authorities certifying the cause of death are:-
(a) the medical practitioners in attendance during the last illness whether in hospital practice, dispensary practice or private practice
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(b) the Tung Wah Hospitals for bodies where there has been no registered medical practitioner attend- ing.
(c) the Medical Officer of Health for bodies found in houses and for which he is called for diagnosis. (d) the Coroner for all bodies examined at the Public Mortuaries—including medico legal cases and bodies dumped in the street or left at convents for disposal.
(e) the friends and relatives or the police in certain
cases.
The following table shows the number of deaths certified by the various authorities certifying :-
RETURN OF CERTIFIED AND UNCERTIFIED DEATHS.
Non-Chinese
Chinese
Authority certifying cause of death
Number! of cases
Percen- tage of the whole
Number
of cases
Percen- tage of the whole
Medical Practitioner in At-
tendance
268
94.6
11,493 58.7
Medical Officer of Health ...
2
0.7
426
2.2
1,013
5.18
491
2.51
147
0.6
Tung Wah Hospital
Tung Wah Eastern Hospital-
Kwong Wah Hospital
Coroner from information received from the M. O. i/c. Mortuaries
13
4.64
5,976
30.5
Total..
Chinese deaths
283
19,546
DEATHS REGISTERED IN 1932.
19,546
Non-Chinese deaths
283
19,829
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