TNAG-0972-FCO40-1191-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 20

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conditions in camps, the crude death rate among them, at 7.3

per thousand for 1979, was not significantly higher than the rate

of 5.2 per thousand for the Hong Kong population itself.

The group endorsed the Government's policy that the

refugees should not be given better facilities than those provided

to the Hong Kong population, but that they should nevertheless be

treated humanely.

The group recognised, however, that the arrangements

made in 1979 were essentially an emergency relief operation. Now

that the number of refugees remaining in Hong Kong, albeit still

high, has been reduced to more manageable proportions, some

improvements in facilities are desirable in the light of experience

gained last year.

The group has put forward a number of recommendations

in this direction.

One of the most important recommendations is that

special medical and health care should be given to refugee children

under seven years of age, who are particularly vulnerable to

disease.

This is to be achieved through detailed medical

examinations of young children very soon after arrival and through

systematic immunisation programme

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