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Colonel Fehily will summarize his specific needs in respect of these various officers and forward a note of this through the C.C.A.0. All I do at the moment is to stress generally the urgent needs for trained health staff; which should receive first priority.
Longer term needs are a School Medical Officer who is capable of organizing proper School Medical service; conditions in regard to school hygiene are dealt with later in the report. In addition, Colonel Fehily requires a trained Health Sister, whose duty it would be to train local staff and initiate a proper service for schools and a community service. I understand one qualified Health Sister has already been asked for.
The position with regard to specialist staff is more satisfactory. A dental surgeon has been asked for to organize a dental service for schools; two locally recruited dentists are at present employed. Provision is also made in the Civil establishment budget for posts of ophthalmologist, pathologist, radiologist, biochemist and malariologist. With regard to the latter post, I am told that Dr. R. B. Jackson, the former malariologist, is returning to the Colony temporarily to relieve Dr. J. B. Mackie, who should proceed on leave as soon as possible; he was in the Colony throughout the occupation. The posts of consultant surgical, gynaecological and medical specialists are also fixed; they are supplied by the University teaching staff.. Having in view the high incidence of child disability and disease that exists in the Colony, the question of a specialist in paediatrics should be considered.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is, without any doubt, one of the major public health problems in this Colony at present and probably the best approach to the solution of the problem, so far as this can be envisaged for a place like Hong Kong, would be to send a properly qualified specialist out to investigate and make recomienda- tions.
There is a high incidence of orthopedic disability among children in the Colony. There has also to be kept in mind the large amount of disability existing amongst adults often leading to unemployment and destitution, much of which could be relieved, or even put right, under skilled advice and guidance. Begging is a paying profession in Hong Kong; perhaps a proportion of this could be reduced provided there was no ground for adopting such a profession on account of physical disability for work. Here again it would be desirable to send out a specialist to investigate and report.
2. DRUGS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT
None of the supplies under the Young Working Party Units have yet come to hand and they are not expected to arrive before February next year. Colonel Fehily had rather anticipated this and had approached the appropriate authority at the War Office to secure military supplies not required for operational needs to fill the possible gap, but nothing has come of this. Further, maintenance blocks for beach- landing parties were earmarked from India, again with a negative result. In the meantime, Civil Affairs medical services have been carrying on with considerable stocks recovered on re-entry, and for the more special types of drugs, which are not available, through assistance from the Services. These chiefly include limited supplies of the sulpha-drugs, N.A.B., penicillin and small quantities of diphtheria anti-toxin. Nevertheless the position is a serious one; while going around I heard of many shortages of essential drugs. For instance, at the Child Welfare Centres, they had no santonin. As it seemed pretty clear that the arrival of the Young Working Party Units could not be much accelerated, Colonel Fehily requested through Brigadier Gibbons, who called here recently, supplies of drugs from SACSEA, and he is taking whatever further steps are possible. The need is obviously urgent and no doubt Colonel Fehily will keep the Colonial Office advised on the situation. Anything that can be done to accelerate the arrival of the Young Working Party Units should be done and any urgent requests from Colonel Fehily for supplies that he cannot obtain from the sources already indicated should have first priority.
The remarks regarding shortages apply equally to hospital equipment generally. In addition to material stocks of the commoner drugs found on re-entry, which included quinine, a certain amount of bedding and most of the beds have been recovered. Such items as sheets and blankets do not exist, while bedding is scanty.
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