XN000022-1985-01-06 — Page 2

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 1985

CENTRAL MALARIA LABORATORY SET UP

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HONG KONG HAS JUST SET UP A CENTRAL REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF MALARIA, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, DR LEE SHIU-HUNG, SAID TODAY.

SUCH A LABORATORY HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED BY THE EXPERTS OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) FOLLOWING THEIR IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE LOCAL SITUATION IN 1983 AND EARLY 1984.

SO FAR, TWO SENIOR LABORATORY TECHNICIANS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SENT TO MALAYSIA AND THAILAND TO STUDY ADVANCED LABORATORY TECHNIQUES ON MALARIA. ON THEIR RETURN, THEY WILL BE POSTED TO THE CENTRAL REFERENCE LABORATORY.

+THE PURPOSE OF THIS LABORATORY IS TO HAVE A CENTRAL UNIT TO COUNTER-CHECK POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SLIDES FROM ALL GOVERNMENT PATHOLOGY INSTITUTES SO AS TO MONITOR THE STANDARD OF LABORATORY WORK, DR LEE EXPLAINED.

IN ADDITION, IT OFFERS CONSULTATIVE SERVICE TO OTHER LABORATORIES, INCLUDING THOSE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, ON DOUBTFUL

CASES.

+SPEEDY IDENTIFICATION OF THE DISEASE IS MOST IMPORTANT IN CONTROLLING MALARIA IN HONG KONG, DR LEE SAID.

+EXTENSIVE URBANISATION HAS ELIMINATED MOST CLEAR SLOW-RUNNING STREAMS WHICH ARE THE BREEDING PLACES FOR MALARIA VECTORS IN HONG KONG. AS A RESULT, THE NUMBER OF REPORTED CASES DROPPED FROM 2 400 IN 1946 TO AN AVERAGE OF 10 CASES A YEAR IN THE EARLY 1970S, DR LEE EXPLAINED.

HOWEVER, WITH RAPIDLY-EXPANDING TOURISM, MALARIA NOWADAYS CAN BE EASILY IMPORTED INTO HONG KONG BY PEOPLE COMING FROM MALARIA-ENDEMIC REGIONS. WITHOUT EFFECTIVE CONTROL MEASURES, THE DISEASE COULD SPREAD BY MOSQUITO VECTORS EXISTING IN CERTAIN AREAS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.

+OUR STRATEGY IS TO IDENTIFY THE DISEASE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PROVIDE THOROUGH TREATMENT AND ELIMINATE POTENTIAL MOSQUITO BREEDING SITES.

+AF TER EVALUATING THIS STRATEGY, THE WHO EXPERTS GAVE IT THEIR FULL SUPPORT, DR LEE SAID.

THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT MAINTAINS A NETWORK OF HOSPITALS AND CLINICS THROUGHOUT THE TERRITORY FOR CASE DETECTION.

LAST YEAR, THERE WERE 113 REPORTED MALARIA CASES, INCLUDING 96 IMPORTED ONES. WITH ITS EXTENSIVE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM, THE DEPARTMENT DEALT WITH THEM EFFECTIVELY, THEREBY PREVENTING THE DISEASE FROM BECOMING ENDEMIC.

/ALL CONFIRMED