XN000022-1976-02-27 — Page 6

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Friday, February 27, 1976

INCIDENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS CONTINUES TO DECLINE

Two overseas experts on chest diseases have recommended "major

changes" in the Government Chest Service, necessitated by the continual

decline in the incidence of tuberculosis in Hong Kong.

This was disclosed by the Director of Medical and Health Services,

Dr. Gerald Choa, in his address to the Hong Kong Anti-TB & Thoracic Diseases

Association this evening.

Dr. Choa, who is president of the association, told the annual

general meeting that he had appointed a Working Party to consider a report

by the two consultants from the United Kingdom, Prof. J.G. Scadding and

Dr. Wallace Fox, who visited Hong Kong last year to review the situation

concerning tuberculosis.

Both experts were of the opinion that the current decline in new

cases of tuberculosis would continue and the policy of reliance on out-

patient chemotherapy should be pursued, he said.

They advocated that the existing chest clinics should continue to

deal with out-patient treatment of tuberculosis, but they should extend their

activities further into other fields of respiratory diseases.

And because of the expected decline, a number of beds for the

treatment of tuberculosis should be used for non-TB chest conditions and

also heart diseases.

In this connection, Dr. Choa said his view was that the Ruttonjee

Sanatorium should remain as the main centre for the treatment of all forms

of tuberculosis while the Granthan Hospital, in which there is already an

open-heart surgery unit, should further develop in this particular specialty.

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