M 31-
Vital Statistics of European Officials.
70. Number of Europeans (excluding temporary school mistresses) 897
Average number on leave 73
Average number resident in the Colony 824
Number invalided during 1932:-
(a) when on leave at home 1
(b) in the Colony 4
Number died during 1932 : —
(a) on the way home ...
(b) in the Colony 1
(c) when on leave at home 12
1 14
PART II-HEALTH CONDITIONS.
General Remarks.
71. In the absence of some system of registration of sickness the only sources of information available are the death returns, the returns of notifiable diseases, and the figures furnished by the Government Hospitals and the Western clinics of the Chinese Hospitals. The number of deaths recorded indicates very correctly the deaths which have taken place in the Colony but the figures regarding general diseases are only a fraction of the whole and too much importance should not be placed on deductions made from them. Though the educated Chinese appreciate the value of Western medicine the bulk of the population still pin their faith to the old-fashioned Chinese decoctions and, when ill, seek advice from one or other of the many empiricists or herbalists who practise in the Colony. A number of those who enter the Government Hospitals do so only after they have made full trial of Chinese Medicines and when their disease is well advanced.
72. Year by year, however, the value of Western medicine becomes more and more appreciated. Proof of this is the ever-increasing number who attend the outpatient departments of Government Hospitals or seek admission to the wards. Another proof is the success of the Infant Welfare Clinic which was opened in Wanchai on 25th April and which has become so popular that there is need of further accommodation.