HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, could we have another supplementary? May I ask if this question of factory units could be discussed by the Resettlement Policy Select Committee on the grounds that possibly people are being given these factory spaces and they are unsuitable for the small businesses which are being transferred there—too far away from where the people are living? I would like to refer that, if possible, for discussion.
DR. BELL:-Mr. Chairman, I should be delighted for it to be discussed by the Resettlement Policy Select Committee. Mrs. ELLIOTT is a member of the Committee so she will be able to put forward her views, and if Mr. CHEONG-LEEN would like to be present, we could extend an invitation to him.
(2) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-
Can the Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services advise:
(a) How many cases of measles were reported from January 1, 1967 to the end of April, 1967 in the Resettlement estates?
(b) How does this figure compare to the rest of Hong Kong?
(c) Was there any measles epidemic in the resettlement estates during the past few months?
(d) What steps will the Medical and Health Department take to reduce the possibility of a serious measles outbreak in future in the resettlement estates?
THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES replied as follows:-
The answer to the first part of the question is that 520 cases of measles were reported in 21 resettlement estates between 1st January and 15th April this year; one-third of these cases were reported from estates in the New Territories. The official resettlement estate population, as at the end of March 1967, was 861,213; the incidence of measles in these estates was, therefore, 0.6 per 1,000 persons.
Regarding the second part of the question the rest of Hong Kong had a total of 3,114 reported cases during the same period, i.e. an incidence of 1.059 per 1,000 persons living outside resettlement estates.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The answer to the third part of the question is yes. Concerning the fourth part of the question, the Medical and Health Department will certainly take the same steps in resettlement estates, as it takes in the Colony as a whole, to reduce as far as possible the effects of any measles outbreak in the future.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, since the Vice-Chairman, who is also the Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services, admits that there was an epidemic of measles in the resettlement estates, does he wish to add anything further in regard to his answer to part (c) of the question, to explain how it was that this measles outbreak occurred in Hong Kong at this time of the year?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-All I can say, Mr. Chairman, is that there was an outbreak of measles before then, nothing to do with resettlement estates by themselves. There is an outbreak of measles every two years in Hong Kong.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Since statistics over the past years have shown that there is an outbreak of measles in the Colony in alternate years, why was it that steps were not taken by the Medical Department to prevent this outbreak from becoming an epidemic in our resettlement estates?
CHAIRMAN:-The question just asked was: "Why were steps not taken to prevent an outbreak of measles in resettlement estates". This seems to me to raise a rather separate issue, and I would be glad if the Medical Department could be given the opportunity to study this question.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, the Medical Department is a very efficient body and I am surprised that you are trying to shield them. I do not think they need the shield of the Chairman of the Urban Council.
CHAIRMAN:-Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, what I meant was this. It is a well-known fact that as a precaution against smallpox one can be vaccinated, as regards cholera one can be inoculated, but what precautions can be taken against measles is a rather less easy question to answer, and I think the Medical Department should have time to study it.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Well, may I pursue with another supplementary then? From the information which the Vice-Chairman has given, it appears that the incidence in the resettlement estates is much lower per thousand persons than in the rest of Hong Kong. Is there any reason for that, Mr. Chairman? Could the Vice-Chairman give us an answer?
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