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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1 1975
INFANTS AND CHILDREN WELL PROTECTED
AGAINST CHILDHOOD DISEASES
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WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CONTROLLED MEASURES AND IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMMES AGAINST CHILDHOOD DISEASES, HONG KONG MAY WELL CLAIM TO HAVE MUCH BETTER HEALTH FACILITIES FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN THAN MANY OTHER COUNTRIES.
OF THE 75,000 BABIES BORN LAST YEAR, 96 PER CENT HAVE ATTENDED A GOVERNMENT MÅTERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CLINIC AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER.
BABIES FROM NEWBORN TO FIVE YEARS OF AGE UNDERGO REGULAR PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS AND RECEIVE VARIOUS IMMUNIZATIONS AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS, SMALLPOX, MEASLES, DIPHTHERIA, WHOOPING COUGH, TETANUS
AND POLIOMYELITIS.
ACCORDING TO THE WORLD HEALTH CRGANISATION, 80 MILLION CHILDREN ARE BORN EACH YEAR IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, BUT ONLY FOUR MILLION OF THEM HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVELY IMMUNIZED AGAINST THE MAIN DISEASES OF CHILDHOOD.
FOR THIS REASON, W.H.O. HAS NOW MADE IT A TARGET TO ASSIST NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES IN EXPANDING THE COVERAGE OF THEIR IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMMES AGAINST SIX UBIQUITOUS AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS INFECTIONS: DIPHTHERIA, PERTUSSIS (OR WHOOPING COUGH), TETANUS, POL IOMYELITIS, MEASLES AND CHILDHOOD TUBERCULOSIS, ALL OF WHICH CAN BE PREVENTED.
BUT IN HONG KONG, IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMMES HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFULLY CARRIED CUT THAT IT IS NOW ABLE TO VACCINATE AGAINST TUBERCULOS IS ALMOST 100 PER CENT OF ALL NEW BORN BABIES, WHICH IS BELIEVED TO BE THE HIGHEST ECG COVERAGE AT BIRTHS IN THE WORLD.
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A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THERE HAD BEEN NO DEATH FROM DIPHTHERIA FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS AND POLIOMYELITIS HAD VIRTUALLY BEEN ERADICATED.
HE SAID ONLY TWO CHILDREN DIED OF MEASLES LAST YEAR COMPARED WITH 654 DEATHS IN 1967, WHEN MEASLES VACCINATION WAS INTRODUCED
TO HONG KONG.
PERTUSSIS HAS DISAPPEARED FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS AND THE INCIDENCE OF CHILDHOOD TETANUS IS LOW.
IMMUNIZATIONS AGAINST COMMON CHILDHOOD DISEASES ARE PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IN GOVERNMENT'S 37 MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CENTRES IN ALL PARTS OF HONG KONG.
THESE CENTRES ARE RUN BY THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT' = FAMILY HEALTH SERVICE, WHICH PROVIDES A WIDE RANGE OF CARE FOR BABIES AND EXPECTANT AND NURSING MOTHERS, INCLUDING ADVICE ON FAMILY PLANNING AND BIRTH CONTROL, MORE CENTRES ARE PLANNED FOR THE CROWDED HOUSING ESTATES.
/DESPITE