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There was great opposition from the unofficial members of Council to powers being given to a Sanitary Commissioner instead of to the Sanitary Board and during the passage of the bill considerable changes were made in it. In its final form there was no mention of a Sanitary Commissioner--and the Governor was given power to appoint both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Sanitary Board,
In 1903-the Governor was of opinion that the interests of the Colony would be best served by bringing the Medical and Sanitary Services under the direct ad- ministration of the P.C.M.O. and the Secretary of State having given his sanction Ordinance No. 23 of 1903 was passed making the P.C.M. O. exofficio President of the Sanitary Board and Head of the Sanitary Department The P.C.M.O. at that period had in addition to administrative duties clinical ones which occupied much of his time.
In 1906 there was considerable criticism by the Press and by the unofficial members of the Sanitary Board regarding the way the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance was being administered. There were complaints of inconsiderate action by officers both of the Public Works Department and of the Sanitary Department and there were hints of squeeze. In order to obtain full information on the subject the Governor appointed a Commission of enquiry consisting entirely of the Unofficial members of the Board none of whom had any medical training.
fers:-
The terms of reference were to enquire into and report on the following mat-
(1) Whether the administration of the Sanitary and Buildings Regula- tions enacted in the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance 1903 as now carried out is satisfactory, and if not what improvements can be made.
(2) Whether any irregularity or corruption exists or has existed among the officials charged with the administration of the aforesaid re- gulations.
In a minute to the Government dated November 1st the P.C'.M.O., Dr. Atkin- son, said :-
"I have read carefully through these papers and I wish to draw atten- tion to the fact that as far back as August 1901 I recommended to Government that the Sanitary Board should be made a Govern- ment Department. My views now are that whatever the report of this Commission may be that one of two steps must be taken-
(1) Either that the Sanitary Department be handed over to a
Municipality to administer--or
(2) The Sanitary Board be abolished and the Sanitary Depart-
ment throughout be a Government Department.
I am convinced more and more every day that the present divided authority is unsatisfactory.
The recommendations of this lay Commission were:—
(1) That the administration of the Public Health and Buildings Ordi- nance be entirely separated from the P.W.D. and entirely trans- ferred to a Sanitary Board and Buildings Department which should be divided into four sections with four co-equal heads—niz. :-
A. A secretariat to control the entire correspondence with a
Cadet as secretary
B. A Medical Department having at its head the M.O.H
C. An Engineering Section with an Executive Engineer at its
head.
D. A Veterinary Department under the Coloniay Veterinary
Surgeon.
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(2) The whole Department shall be controlled by a Board consisting of four official and six unofficial members who shall have the complete ordering of the Department, recommend to the Governor all changes and promotion of staff and be accountable for the expendi- ture of funds voted by the Legislative Council.
(3) The President to be elected annually by the Board.
(4) The four heads of Department to attend the meetings of the Board
But to have no vote.
The Commission stated that "the P.C.M.O. as administrative officer of the Medical Department and resident surgeon of the Chief Hospital for Women and Children containing 40 beds had too much to do” and that it was demanding more than the powers of any one man to carry out these multiferous duties satisfactorily and at the same time as administrative head give that constant and close supervision 10 the Sanitary Department which its proper working demands”.
The Commissioners were evidently of opinion that sanitation as practised by the Board was not of a medical nature for they recommended that "In view of the nature of the work to be done the post of President should not under any condi- tions be held by a Medical Man".
The Commissioners did not explain how the Chairman whom they proposed to elect annually from among their members, every one of whom had his own business to attend to, would any more than the P.C.M.O. be able to carry on his ordinary duties “and at the same time as administrative head give that constant and close supervision to the Sanitary Department which its proper working demands”.
In 1908 a bill amending the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance was pass- ed. Among other things provided that "The Sanitary Board shall consist of the Head of the Sanitary Department who shall be exofficio President of the Sanitary Board, the Director of Public Works, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, the Medical Officer of Health and not more than six additional members who shall hold office for three years".
A Cadet Officer was appointed Head of the Sanitary Department and the Prin- cipal Civil Medical Officer who for twenty-two years out of the twenty-five years of its existence had been Chairman of the Board and Head of the Sanitary Department ceased to have any connection with sanitation and preventive medicine in the Colony. Thus was curative medicine divorced from preventive medicine in Hong Kong and the latter placed under lay control.
On 9.9.1924 after sixteen years trial of a system of sanitation with a layman as health administrator the Sanitary Board passed a resolution asking Government to constitute the Sanitary Board a General Board of Health giving it power to deal with all measures connected with the Public Health and the prevention of disease and appointing as its head a Commissioner of Public Health who should be a medi- cal man possessing a Diploma in Public Health. The resolution ended by stating that the Board should be entirely separated from the Medical Department out of the question for the P.C.M.O to assume full charge”.
as it is
The resolution was duly forwarded to Government and in a communication dated 11.9.24 the Secretary to the Sanitary Board received the following reply from the Colonial Secretary :-
COLONIAL SECRETARIAT.
11.9.24.
“The Government will be glad to give careful consideration to any de- tailed suggestion put forward by the Board for the enlargement of its scope along lines indicated in the Public Health and Buik- ings Ordinance No. 1 of 1903. I am, however, to make it clear that the Sanitary Board is not, in the opinion of Government, responsible for the public health of the Colony, the officer so re- sponsible being the Principal Civil Medical Officer.
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