FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 197E
GOVERNMENT TO START TB CASE FINDING CAMPAIGN
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THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S CHEST SERVICE IS TO START A LONG-TERM +TUBERCULOSIS CASE FINDING CAMPAIGN NEXT WEEK IN AN ALL-OUT EFFORT TO FURTHER REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF THE DISEASE.
THE OBJECT OF THE CAMPAIGN IS TO GET PEOPLE WITH SYMPTOMS OF PERSISTENT COUGH FOR MORE THAN ONE MONTH TO ATTEND THE GOVERNMENT'S CHEST CLINICS FOR A CHECK-UP SO THAT APPROPRIATE TREATMENT CAN BE GIVEN AT THE EARLY STAGE OF INFECTION. TE, UNTIL RECENT YEARS, HAD BEEN ONE OF THE TOP KILLER DISEASES IN HONG KONG.
THE CAMPAIGN WILL BE A COMBINED EFFORT INVOLVING VARIOUS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, THE HONG KONG ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS AND THORACIC DISEASES ASSOCIATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL BODIES. IT AIMS TO EDUCATE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, THROUGH THE MASS MEDIA, WHAT THE DISEASE IS ALL ABOUT AND, ABOVE ALL, HOW AND WHERE PATIENTS CAN BE TREATED. TO ACHIEVE THIS, THERE WILL BE DISPLAY OF POSTERS AT PUBLIC PLACES, DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION LEAFLETS, RADIO SLOGANS, TV FILMS AND NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY THAT INCREASING THE AWARENESS OF THE COMMUNITY OF THIS PROBLEM MOULD ENABLE THE HEALTH AUTHORITIES TO MAKE RAPID PROGRESS IN THE ELIMINATION OF TUBERCULOSIS.
HE POINTED OUT THAT WITH ADVANCES MADE IN THE TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS MOST PATIENTS TODAY NEED NOT GO INTO HOSPITAL AND IN FACT ARE GIVEN VERY EFFECTIVE AND FREE TREATMENT WITHOUT DISRUPTION TO THEIR NORMAL WORK.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID ALTHOUGH THE INCIDENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS HAS SUBSTANTIALLY DECLINED OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES THE PROBLEM IS STILL A LARGE ONE.
IN 1952, THERE WERE 14,821 NOTIFICATIONS OF TB CASES, OR 697.2 PER 100,000 POPULATION, WITH 3,573 DEATHS, OR 168,4 PER 100,000 POPULATION. THE NOTIFICATION RATE HAS DROPPED TO 159.3 PER 100,000 IN 1977 WITH THE DEATH RATE DOWN TO AN ALL-TIME LOW OF 11.8 PER 100,000 POPULATION.
DURING THIS PERIOD TE DEATHS IN THE POPULATION FELL FROM 18.4 PER CENT TO 2.3 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL DEATHS AND IN THE TEN TOP CAUSES OF DEATH IT FELL FROM SECOND TO EIGHTH PLACE.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE WIDER APPLICATION OF BCG VACCINES TO NEWBORN BABIES HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN THE DECLINE OF TUBERCULOSIS INCIDENCE, ESPECIALLY IN THE VERY YOUNG AGE GROUPS,
STARTED IN 1952 WHEN FOUR PER CENT OF THE NEWBORNS WERE VACCINATED, COVERAGE NC. IS 99 PER CENT, THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD, HE SAID.
/PRIOR TC