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6.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1975
GOOD MATERNAL AND CHILD CARE VITAL TO
PREVENTION OF DEAFNESS
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DR. CHOA
THE DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, DR. GERALD CHOA, ADVISED TODAY THAT MANY POTENTIAL CASES OF DEAFNESS COULD BE REMEDIED BY GOOD MATERNAL AND CHILD CARE.
SPEAKING AT THE OPENING OF THE VOICE OF THE UNVOICED'' EXHIBITION, ORGANISED BY THE JAYCEETTES AT STATUE SQUARE THIS MORNING, DR. CHOA SAID MANY CHILDHOOD INFECTIONS COULD BE PREVENTED BY IMMUNISATIONS SUCH AS B.C.G. AND MEASLES.
HE NOTED THAT THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT HAD BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL IN ITS IMMUNISATION PROGRAMMES.
STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTION OF DEAFNESS, THE DIRECTOR SAID EAR HYGIENE SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS, AND ADVISED THAT EAR INFECTIONS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY AND MUST BE TREATED EARLY BY DOCTORS.
+WITH GOOD MATERNAL AND CHILD CARE MANY POTENTIAL CASES CAN BE RECTIFIED AND REMEDIED,+ HE SAID.
ACCORDING TO DR. CHOA, A NUMBER OF CONGENITAL CASES WITH UNKNOWN FACTORS ARE THE ONES WHICH CAUSE MOST CONCERN.
HE ADVISED THAT DRUGS KNOWN TO GIVE RISE TO TOXICITY SHOULD BE GIVEN ONLY UNDER CONSTANT MEDICAL SUPERVISION AND SUBSTITUTED WITH OTHERS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
NOISE IN THE SOCIAL AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT SHOULD BE ABATED BY LEGISLATION TO MINIMISE THE RISK OF HEARING IMPAIRMENT OR PROLONGED EXPOSURE, HE SUGGESTED.
DR. CHOA WENT ON TO SAY THAT PREVENTION OF THE RESULTANT DISABILITY WOULD RELY ON THE EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF THE CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WITH A HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN THE EARLY YEARS OF LIFE.
+LANGUAGE AND SPEECH SKILLS DO NOT COME NATURALLY FOR THEM BECAUSE THEY LACK THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE, AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT MENTAL DEVELOPMENT TENDS TO BE HELD BACK, HE SAID.
IF ACTION WAS TAKEN EARLY ENOUGH, SAID DR. CHOA, THESE CHILDREN WOULD GROW UP AS INDIVIDUALS RELYING LESS FOR SUPPORT ON THEIR FAMILIES AND ON WELFARE PROVISIONS.
THE DIRECTOR SAID THERE WERE NO ACCURATE STATISTICS AVAILABLE ON THE OVERALL PREVALENCE OF DEAFNESS IN HONG KONG. THE 1971 CENSUS ENUMERATED ONLY FEWER THAN 2,000 PEOPLE BUT THIS HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED THE DEAF POPULATION.
J
/DR. CIOA
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