Northern Territory
M 225
Registration Districts.
1931 Census No. of Births Population.
Registered.
Shatin 4,346 194 Taipo 12,684 466 Sha Tau Kok 8,941 244 Sheung Shiu 10,208 371 Lok Ma Chau 4,377 121 Au Tau 12,887 526 Ping Shan 12,660 313 Sai Kung 7,585 270Southern Territory
Registration Districts.
Tsun Wan Cheung Chau 5,355 164 5,477 538 Tai O (Lantau Island) 7,409 173 ... ... ...Total of population for New Territories.......101,276
Birth registration is not complete. Though every facility has been given for registration a considerable number of births are never registered and this is especially noticeable in the case of females.
Vaccination.
Under the Vaccination Ordinance the guardians of every child born must, unless there be a medical reason to the contrary, furnish to the Registrar of Births and Deaths a certificate of vaccination on receipt of which the Registrar must record the facts in the Births Register. Notices containing advice on this matter are handed to the parent at the time of registration, or if the person notifying be not the parent notice is sent by post.
If the necessary certificates are not received reminders are sent by post to the parents.
The non-Chinese make a good response and the majority of infants are vaccinated. The Chinese on the contrary do not make a good response and the majority of infants remain un-vaccinated or at any rate uncertified. The majority of the Chinese are of course working class people who can neither read nor write English or Chinese.
Many of these people hold the belief that a child should not be vaccinated until it has experienced two Chinese New Years, which means that one born just after the New Year would be nearly two years old before the propitious time arrives.
Under the circumstances very few prosecutions are instituted for neglect to certify as to successful vaccination.
The following table shows the position in detail:-