15
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1987
CANCER STILL NO. 1 KILLER
EVERY ONE IN
THREE DEATHS IN HONG KONG HAS BEEN CAUSED BY
CANCER, ACCORDING TO LATEST ANNUAL STATISTICS.
THIS WAS STATED BY THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, DR S.H. LEE TODAY (FRIDAY) WHEN HE MADE THE PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE HONG KONG ANTI-CANCER SOCIETY.
CANCER HAD REMAINED THE NUMBER ONE KILLER IN HONG 1964 AND HAD CLAIMED MORE LIVES EVERY YEAR, HE SAID.
KONG SINCE
FROM 1964 TO 1986, THE CANCER DEATH RATE INCREASED FROM 91 173 PER 100,000 POPULATION FOR MALE, AND 75 TO 117
100,000
FEMALE.
TO
PER
FOR
DR LEE NOTED THAT LUNG CANCER STILL TOPS THE LIST OF ALL CANCER DEATHS, ACCOUNTING FOR 2,348 OR 29 PER CENT OF A TOTAL OF 8,054 CANCER DEATHS IN 1986.
HAD IS FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY LIVER CANCER WHICH THIS FOR 1,054 DEATHS.
ACCOUNTED
HEALTH ACTIVITIES
DR LEE SAID THAT IN CANCER CONTROL, THE WORLD ORGANISATION (WHO) HAD LAID EMPHASIS ON PRIMARY PREVENTION INCLUDING CONTROL OF SMOKING, HEPATITIS B VACCINATION AND PROMOTION OF NUTRITION PROGRAMMES.
CIGARETTE
IN HONG KONG, THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN STRENGTHENING ITS CONTROL ON
SMOKING
THE IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES, WITH
SMOKING (PUBLIC OF MEASURES ENACTED IN 1982 FOLLOWED BY A SERIES HEALTH) ORDINANCE AGAINST SMOKING.
DUE ΤΟ
HAZARDS OF PAST
INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE HEALTH SMOKING, THE NUMBER OF SMOKERS HAD DROPPED BY 20 PER CENT IN THE FOUR YEARS.
AS A
OF THE RESULT
SUSTAINED EFFORTS OF THE COMBINED AND
THE INDIVIDUALS, VOLUNTARY AGENCIES AND PUBLIC SPIRITED GOVERNMENT,
IN OCTOBER HONG KONG COUNCIL ON SMOKING AND HEALTH WAS INAUGURATED THIS YEAR.
DR
LEE SAID HONG KONG'S EFFORTS IN THE FIGHT
RECOGNISED INTERNATIONALLY INDEED BEEN
AGAINST TOBACCO AS AN EXAMPLE OF A RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT IN PROTECTING THE HEALTH OF ITS COMMUNITY.
HAD
FACTOR
TURNING TO HEPATITIS B WHICH IS A VERY IMPORTANT CAUSAL FOR LIVER CANCER, DR LEE SAID THERE WERE ABOUT 160 MILLION CARRIERS OF THE VIRUS IN ASIA AND OVER 500,000 IN HONG KONG.
/TO CURB