XN000022-1983-10-12 — Page 15

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1983

AMENDMENTS APPROVED

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THE LEGAL AID IN CRIMINAL CASES (AMENDMENT) RULES 1983 WERE APPROVED BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

MOVING THE MOTION FOR APPROVAL, THE ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL, THE HON. GERALD NAZARETH, EXPLAINED THAT THE RULES HAD BEEN MADE BY THE CHIEF JUSTICE ON SEPTEMBER 15, AND EFFECT A NUMBER OF MINOR IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PRINCIPLE RULES, WHICH REGULATE THE GRANT OF LEGAL AID IN CRIMINAL CASES.

ACTIONS TO COMBAT MALARIA ***

AN INTER-DEPARTMENTAL CO-ORDINATING COMMITTEE HAS BEEN SET UP TO FACILITATE THE UPDATING OF PLANS TO MEET ANY POSSIBLE OUTBREAK OF MALARIA, THE SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE, THE HON HENRY CHING TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

MR CHING

REPLYING TO A QUESTION FROM DR THE HON HO KAM-FAI SAID THERE WERE 62 CASES OF MALARIA IN 1981 AND 80 CASES IN 1982. EACH FIGURE INCLUDED ONLY ONE INDIGENOUS CASE.

EIGHTY-ONE CASES OF MALARIA INCLUDING SIX INDIGENOUS ONES HAD BEEN REPORTED SO FAR THIS YEAR, HE REPORTED,

HE SAID THAT WHILE THE SIX INDIGENOUS CASES REPRESENTED AN OBVIOUS INCREASE, IN ABSOLUTE NUMBERS THEY DID NOT AMOUNT TO AN OUTBREAK.

THE SITUATION, HE ADDED, WAS BEING CAREFULLY MONITORED.

ON MEASURES TAKEN TO PREVENT THE TRANSMISSION OF THE DISEASE, MR CHING SAID THE MOST IMPORTANT WAS THE ACTION TAKEN AGAINST THE BREEDING OF VECTOR MOSQUITOES AND THE PROSECUTION OF PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR MOSQUITO BREEDING,

HE SAID THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT HAS 20 ANTI-MOSQUITO TEAMS, COMPRISING 186 MEN, ENGAGED FULL-TIME THROUGHOUT THE TERRITORY IN THE ELIMINATION OF MAN-MADE MOSQUITO-BREEDING CONDITIONS, PARTICULARLY THOSE ON BUILDING SITES.

ANOTHER 20 TEAMS OF 275 MEN WORK TO PREVENT MOSQUITO BREEDING IN NATURAL CONDITIONS, SUCH AS FOUND IN STREAMS AND CATCHMENT AREAS, HE ADDED.

MR CHING SAID ADVICE WAS ALSO GIVEN TO OWNERS OF PRIVATE PREMISES TO AVOID THE CREATION OF POSSIBLE MOSQUITO-BREEDING GROUNDS.

THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT HAD ESTABLISHED A SPECIAL TE AM RESPONSIBLE FOR CASE INVESTIGATIONS AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF VECTOR MOSQUITOES, WHILE THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT WAS KEEPING CLOSE WATCH ON THE INCIDENCE OF MALARIA IN HONG KONG, MR CHING SAID.

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