XN000022-1974-11-13 — Page 2

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1974

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES STATISTICS SHOW SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN DECADE

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DR. THE HON. GERALD CHOA, DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY THAT SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE IN THE STATE OF HEALTH OF THE POPULATION OF HONG KONG IN THE LAST DECADE AS A RESULT OF ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE.

SPEAKING AT THE RESUMED DEBATE ON THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH, HE LISTED CONSIDERABLE DECLINES IN THE INFANT MORTALITY RATE, MATERNAL MORTALITY, DIPHTHERIA, POLIOMYELITIS, LEPROSY, MALARIA, AND TUBERCULOSIS.

OF THE LATTER, HE SAID THE NOTIFICATION RATE HAD FALLEN FROM 358 PER 100,000 POPULATION IN 1964 TO 196 IN 1973, WHILE THE MORTALITY RATE HAD DROPPED FROM 41.1 PER 100,000 POPULATION IN 1964 TO 27.7 IN 1973.

THE CRUDE DEATH RATE NOW STOOD AT 5.1 PER 1,000 POPULATION +WHICH MUST BE CONSIDERED LOW.+

WHERE ONCE COMMUNICABLE DISEASES HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GREATER NUMBER OF DEATHS, THE MORTALITY PATTERN HAD NOW CHANGED. IN 1973, THE MAIN CAUSES OF DEATHS WERE CANCER, HEART AND HYPERTENSIVE DISEASES, PNEUMONIA, CEREBRO-VASCULAR DISEASES, ACCIDENTS AND TUBERCULOSIS IN THAT ORDER.

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DR. CHOA RECALLED THAT TUBERCULOSIS HAD HELD FIRST PLACE FOR MANY YEARS AFTER THE WAR, BUT HAD NOW TAKEN THE SIXTH PLACE. THIS PATTERN WHICH EMERGED IN HONG KONG ONLY IN THE LAST DECADE WAS NOW THE SAME AS IN THE ADVANCED COUNTRIES.

IN VIEW OF THIS IMPROVEMENT, HE ANNOUNCED THAT AN EMINENT AUTHORITY ON CHEST DISEASES IN BRITAIN HAD BEEN INVITED, THROUGH THE BRITISH COUNCIL, TO VISIT HONG KONG EARLY NEXT YEAR TO ADVISE THE GOVERNMENT ON HOW TO REORGANISE THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S CHEST SERVICE.

DR. CHOA INFORMED THE COUNCIL THAT IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, 227. DOCTORS HAD BEEN SENT ABROAD FOR FURTHER STUDY, AND 218 DOCTORS HAD OBTAINED HIGHER QUALIFICATIONS EITHER IN HONG KONG OR ABROAD.

+MORE AND MORE ROYAL COLLEGES ARE NOW HOLDING PRIMARY OR FINAL EXAMINATIONS IN HONG KONG,+ HE SAID. IN SOME CASES, THE EXPENSES FOR HOLDING SUCH EXAMINATIONS ARE BORNE BY THE GOVERNMENT, AND ALL THOSE WHO PASS ARE GIVEN A REFUND OF THE EXAMINATION FEES.+

IN A REFERENCE TO THE RECENT VISIT TO HONG KONG BY AN INDEPENDENT NURSING ADVISER, MISS MARGARET LAMB, WHO HAD REVIEWED THE NURSING SERVICE AND LEFT BEHIND A REPORT WHICH HAD NOW BEEN TRANSLATED AND MADE PUBLIC, DR. CHOA SAID HE FULLY SHARED THE IDEALS ON WHICH HER REPORT HAD BEEN BASED. A NUMBER OF MISS LAMB'S PROPOSALS HAD CONFIRMED LINES OF ACTION ON WHICH OFFICERS WERE ALREADY WORKING IN THE DEPARTMENT.

/MISS LAMB