XN000022-1993-07-30 — Page 4

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FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1993

OF

THIS

THE JUNE FIGURES ADD UP TO 44 AND 13 RESPECTIVELY THE NUMBER OF

AND HIV CONFIRMED

HALF AIDS CASES RECORDED FOR THE FIRST YEAR, THE HIGHEST HALF-YEARLY FIGURES ON RECORD.

RELEASING THE STATISTICS, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S CONSULTANT (SPECIAL PREVENTIVE PROGRAMME), DR S S LEE, ATTRIBUTED THE

TO

THE INCREASING SPREAD VIA THE HETEROSEXUAL ROUTE, A GENERAL IN HONG KONG AND WORLDWIDE.

RECORD TREND

"EIGHT OF THE 12 NEWLY DIAGNOSED HIV-INFECTED CASES CONTRACTED THE DISEASE THROUGH HETEROSEXUAL CONTACT, HE ADDED.

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UP TO THE END OF JUNE, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CONFIRMED AIDS CASES AND IS 86 WITH 55 DEATHS. THE 31 OTHERS ARE EITHER UNDER COUNSELLING TREATMENT OR HAVE LEFT THE TERRITORY.

"OF THE 381 PERSONS INFECTED, 275 GOT THE INFECTION SEXUALLY, INFECTION THROUGH EIGHT WERE INTRAVENOUS DRUG-USERS, AND 65 GOT THE CONTAMINATED

OR BLOOD PRODUCTS BEFORE 1985 WHEN HIV ANTIBODY TEST AND SAFE HEAT-TREATED CLOTTING CONCENTRATES WERE NOT AVAILABLE.

BLOOD

"FOR THE REMAINING 33, THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE WAS INADEQUATE FOR CLASSIFICATION, DR LEE SAID.

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TOTAL ANTIBODY.

BLOOD

UNDER THE HIV SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMME WHICH STARTED IN 1985,

FOR OF

BERN TESTED SPECIMENS HAVE 275,241

A

THE

HIV

THE

HONG

HAS

ALSO

SERVICE KONG RED CROSS BLOOD TRANSFUSION SCREENED ALL BLOOD DONORS FOR HIV INFECTION.

UP TO LAST MONTH, 1,264,961 UNITS OF BLOOD HAVE BEEN TESTED AND 27 DONORS WERE FOUND POSITIVE.

RE-ORGANISATION OF BUILDINGS AND LANDS DEPARTMENT

* * * * *

THE BUILDINGS AND LANDS DEPARTMENT (BLD) WILL BE SPLIT INTO TWO SEPARATE DEPARTMENTS, NAMELY, THE BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT AND THE LANDS DEPARTMENT, WITH EFFECT FROM AUGUST 1 TO ACHIEVE GREATER EFFICIENCY IN THEIR OPERATIONS.

THE RE-ORGANISATION WAS APPROVED BY THE FINANCE COMMITTEE ON JULY 16.

THE BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT, TO BE HEADED BY THE DIRECTOR OF BUILDINGS, WILL TAKE OVER THE EXISTING FUNCTIONS OF THE BUILDING ORDINANCE OFFICE (BOO) OF THE BLD AND WILL PLACE GREATER EMPHASIS IN TACKLING THE PROBLEMS OF SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE OF PRIVATE BUILDINGS.

THE LANDS DEPARTMENT WILL BE HEADED BY THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS AND WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LAND ADMINISTRATION, LAND SURVEY AND MAPPING, AND GOVERNMENT CONVEYANCING FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY THE LANDS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE, THE SURVEY AND MAPPING THE LEGAL ADVISORY AND CONVEYANCING OFFICE OF THE BLD RESPECTIVELY.

HANDLED BY OFFICE AND

/THE DIRECTORS