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14
Housing
No reliable housing surveys have been carried out in relation to tuberculosis and no statistical information is available on this subject. Apart from the "squatters", almost the entire working class population live in tenements buildings each building consisting usually of four floors sach floor being of less than 800 square feet floor area and normally divided into five or more cubicles each housing a whole family - and several sleeping spaces or tiered bunks. The cubicles are usually formed by thin boarding reaching from a height of about 6 feet almost to the floor which, while it may be conducive to good ventilation, leaves also ample opportunity for spread of infection, One such domestic floor recently visited by a social worker was found to house 23 families.
Nutrition
In the few years between 1937, the beginning of the Japanese incursion into China, and 1941 when the war reached Hong Kong, the population of the Colony increased rapidly as a result of the arrival of large mumbers of refugees. During this period the estimated population rose from 988,190 in 1936 to 1,639,357 and deaths from starvation and deficiency diseases were numerous, At the same time deaths from tuberculosis rose to astronomical figures, No statistical figures of the position are available for the period when the Colony was occupied by the Japanese but from the information gleaned from individuals who survived there was a further progressive deterioration in the general standards of living.
At the end of the Pacific War in 1945 the population had fallen to less than 600,000 and food supplies were very short necessitating the import of food in large quantities from countries other than China thus producing a diet more varied than had hitherto been customary. These conditions have continued due to unrest in the neighbouring areas of China and the general standard of living has remained relatively high. Diseases and deaths due to dietetic deficiency have almost completely disappeared, and the death-rate from tuberculosis while still high is, despite the greatly increased over-crowding, mich lower than in any previous period, Nevertheless there are large numbers of persons not in employment and from information gained through the tuberculosis clinics there are many who still do not get enough food, but it would appear that the importance of food deficiency as of tuberculosis has considerably declined.
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cause
Below is set out graphically the death-rate from tuberculosis (all forms) per 100,000 estimated population for the year 1930 50 Superimposed in a graphic record of the figures of total estimated population for the same period. The striking features shown are :-
(1) The considerable reduction in the tuberculosis death-rate in the
postwar period despite the much greater population,
(2) The rise in the tuberculosis death-rate produced by sudden
increasesin population.
POPULATION IN MILLIONS
TUBERCULOSIS MORTALITY/100,000
2.5
400
300
HONG KONG 1930 50
Estimated Population
Tuberculosis Mortality Rate--
200
MORTALITY
POPULATION
PERIOD
POPULATION
OF JAPANESE OCCUPATION
NO
INFORMATION AVAILABLE
100
1930
1935
1940
1945
MORTALITY...
1950
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