XN000022-1983-06-30 — Page 13

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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1983

EXHIBITION ON DISEASES OPENS

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HONG KONG HAD BEEN FREE FROM MAJOR EPIDEMICS FOR MANY YEARS AS A RESULT OF IMMUNISATION AND HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMMES, THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, DR S.F. LAM, SAID TODAY.

DR LAM WAS SPEAKING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF AN EXHIBITION ON THE PREVENTION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES BEING HELD AT THE CITY HALL.

DR LAM SAID THAT IN SPITE OF HONG KONG'S GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MAKE IT VULNERABLE TO COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, THE TERRITORY HAD BEEN FREE FROM MAJOR EPIDEMICS FOR MANY YEARS.

+TWO TO THREE DECADES AGO, DISEASES SUCH AS MEASLES, DIPHTHERIA AND POLIO WERE PREVALENT AMONG CHILDREN, AND THE INCIDENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS IN INFANTS WAS ALSO HIGH, + HE RECALLED.

+TODAY, THESE ONCE COMMON DISEASES ARE ALL UNDER CONTROL, HE ADDED.

DR LAM SAID THAT THESE ACHIEVEMENTS WERE DUE, IN NO SMALL MEASURE, TO THE JOINT EFFORTS OF DOCTORS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE AND THOSE IN THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN IMMUNISING CHILDREN AND IN EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ON THE PREVENTION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES.

+HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL SOME GASTRO-INTESTINAL DISEASES SUCH AS TYPHOID, PARATYPHOID AND DYSENTERY WHICH MAKE THE IR APPEARANCE IN THE SUMMER,+ DR LAM WARNED.

+THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF THESE DISEASES ARE TO PRACTISE GOOD PERSONAL, FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE,+ HE ADDED,

THE EXHIBITION IS ONE OF THE MANY ACTIVITIES ORGANISED BY THE CENTRAL HEALTH EDUCATION UNIT OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN THE CAMPAIGN ON THE PREVENTION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES.

THE CAMPAIGN, WHICH BEGAN IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR, INCLUDES OTHER ACTIVITIES SUCH AS RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMMES, A POSTER DESIGN AND SLOGAN COMPETITION, A QUIZ COMPETITION AND DISTRICT EXHIBITIONS.

IN DECLARING THE EXHIBITION OPEN, AN UNOFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, MR PETER C. WONG, PRAISED THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND ITS STAFF FOR THEIR UNRELENTING EFFORTS OVER THE YEARS IN CONTROLLING COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND KEEPING HONG KONG RELATIVELY FREE FROM EPIDEMICS.

+THROUGH THE VARIOUS DISPLAYS AND VISUAL PRESENTATIONS AT THIS EXHIBITION, THE MESSAGE ON THE PREVENTION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES WILL BE EFFECTIVELY CONVEYED TO THE COMMUNITY, HE SAID.

/MR WONG