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22. Building operations have been actively undertaken but have affected better class residences, factories, workshops and the like rather than tenements. In consequence, there has been a dearth of accommodation for the lower ranks of society and many thousands—including women and children—were driven to sleeping out on the street pavements until room was found for them in the Government camps.
Concurrently, there has been a spate of building of unauthorized, matshed hovels, without any pretence of alignment, without fire-breaks, drainage, sanitary arrangements, and so on. To curb these measures which bid fair to destroy the amenities of the Colony, apart from giving rise to a very definite health danger, steps were taken during the year to set aside sites on the Island and on the mainland where temporary matshed camps could be built on approved lines. Here, those in need of shelter and able to erect it, could do so in proper alignment with fire-breaks, under the supervision of the Medical Department, water and sanitary services being supplied free on a communal basis. Some measure of protection against exploitation of certain sections of the community (not the tenement dweller, however,) was afforded by the Prevention of Eviction Ordinance which Government decided to continue in force for another period of a year.
24. Taking a long view of the housing and town-planning problem, Government appointed a Town Planning Board in June, 1939, with powers to advise on such matters as zoning, town-planning and housing. It is feared that the intervention of the war in Europe and the doubt regarding the financial situation likely to affect the activities of the Board somewhat adversely for the time being.
(d) Epidemic diseases.
25. (i) Smallpox. The arrival in Hong Kong of large numbers of under-nourished refugees from war areas where a complete disruption of health services had occurred and epidemic disease was rife had obvious repercussions locally, although all possible measures were taken to prevent the spread of infection so introduced. The vaccination campaign which had been placed on a compulsory footing during the grave epidemic of 1938 was pressed vigorously during 1939. Only 198 cases and 153 deaths from smallpox were recorded (a case mortality of 77%) as compared with 2,327 cases and 1,833 deaths in 1938. Some 1,125,871 anti-smallpox vaccinations were carried out in 1939, the services of the majority of the temporary staff recruited in 1938 being retained for the purpose.
26. (ii) Cholera. Cholera reappeared in May, 1939, and special measures were introduced to ensure that passengers leaving Hong Kong for certain ports were in possession of certificates of having received anti-cholera inoculation during the previous five months and not less than six days prior to embarkation.
27. Extensive use was made of propaganda. An additional measure introduced to Hong Kong for the first time was the distribution of hundreds of coloured posters kindly drawn by a local artists' guild, depicting the disease in all its stages, and calculated to be clear to the dullest of minds. One picture was so horribly realistic that a senior Government official craved its removal from his office doorway because, to use his own words, he "couldn't face it". In spite of all these efforts on the part of the health authorities the epidemic mounted gradually until it reached its peak in the last week of June during which 100 cases were recorded, with a second peak in the month of August. The epidemic waned towards the latter part of the year, the first "nil" return being rendered for the week ending November 25th. The total number of cases recorded was 708, and deaths 448, as compared with 547 cases and 363 deaths in 1938. The number of anti-cholera inoculations performed at Government hospitals and dispensaries and at several special centres opened for the purpose amounted to 320,748.
28. (i) Cerebro-spinal meningitis. As might be anticipated, the increase of the normal population of a single floor of a tenement building from fifteen to twenty to as much as sixty tended to aggravate the situation in so far as concerns cerebro-spinal meningitis.
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22. Building operations have been actively undertaken but have affected better class residences, factories, workshops and the like rather than tenements. In consequence, there has been a dearth of accommodation for the lower ranks of society and many thousands-including women and children--were driven to sleeping out on the street pavements until room was found for them in the Government
camps.
Concurrently, there has been a spate of building of unauthorized, matshed hovels, without any pretence of alignment, without fire-breaks, drainage, sanitary arrangements, and so on. To curb these measures which bid fair to destroy the amenities of the Colony, apart from giving rise to a very definite health danger, steps were taken during the year to set aside sites on the Island and on the mainland where temporary matshed camps could be built on approved lines. Here, those in need of shelter and able to erect it, could do so in proper alignment with fire-breaks, under the supervision of the Medical Department, water and sanitary services being supplied free on a communal basis. Some measure of protection against exploitation of certain sections of the community (not the tenement dweller, however,) was afforded by the Prevention of Eviction Ordinance which Government decided to continue in force for another period of a year.
24. Taking a long view of the housing and town-planning problem, Govern- ment appointed a Town Planning Board in June, 1939, with powers to advise on such matters as zoning, town-planning and housing. It is feared that the inter- vention of the war in Europe and the doubt regarding the financial situation likely to affect the activities of the Board somewhat adversely for the time being.
(d) Epidemic diseases.
25. (i) Smallpox. (The arrival in Hong Kong of large numbers of under- nourished refugees from war areas where a complete disruption of health services had occurred and epidemic disease was rife had obvious repercussions locally, although all possible measures were taken to prevent the spread of infection so introduced. The vaccination campaign which had been placed on a compulsory footing during the grave epidemic of 1938 was pressed vigorously during 1939. Only 198 cases and 153 deaths from smallpox were recorded (a case mortality of 77%) as compared with 2,327 cases and 1,833 deaths in 1938. Some 1,125,871 anti-smallpox vaccinations were carried out in 1939, the services of the majority of the temporary staff recruited in 1938 being retained for the purpose?
26. (ii) Cholera. Cholera reappeared in May, 1939, and special measures were introduced to ensure that passengers leaving Hong Kong for certain ports were in possession of certificates of having received anti-cholera inoculation during the previous five months and not less than six days prior to embarkation.
27. (Extensive use was made of propaganda. An additional measure introduced to Hong Kong for the first time was the distribution of hundreds of coloured posters kindly drawn by a local artists' guild, depicting the disease in all its stages, and calculated to be clear to the dullest of minds. One picture was SO horribly realistic that a senior Government official craved its removal from his office doorway because, to use his own words, he "couldn't face it". In spite of all these efforts on the part of the health authorities the epidemic mounted gradually until it reached its peak in the last week of June during which 100 cases were recorded, with a second peak in the month of August. The epidemic waned towards the latter part of the year, the first "nil" return being rendered for the week ending November 25th. The total number of cases recorded was 708, and deaths 448, as compared with 547 cases and 363 deaths in 1938. The number of anti-cholera inoculations performed at Government hospitals and dispen- saries and at several special centres opened for the purpose amounted to 320,748. ›
28. (i) Cerebro-spinal meningitis. As might be anticipated, the increase of the normal population of a single floor of a tenement building from fifteen to twenty to as much as sixty tended to aggravate the situation in so far as concerns cerebro-spinal meningitis.
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