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euphoric actions of heroin. The goal of social rehabilitation by a treatment programme is a broader objective.

13. The maximum dosage used in the Centre is 40 mgm a day in one dose by mouth. This low dosage blocks heroin craving, but does not induce euphoria. In the first five months of the programme. 228 patients were treated. Some of the problems encountered and over- come included medical, social and psychological difficulties.

Polyclinic for South Kwai Chung

14. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra opened the first stage of the South Kwai Chung Jockey Club Polyclinic on 25th October. This development extended the Department's services to a section of the community in an area where there were formerly no convenient medical facilities. Its opening was also in step with the rapid increase in the population of Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung in recent years. A year carlier, a standard urban clinic in north Kwai Chung was opened for the benefit of residents in the northern parts of the township.

15. The Polyclinic is named after the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, which was responsible for the capital cost of the project. The Depart- ment has many clinics and other medical facilities bearing the Club's name. They testify to the Club's magnificant contribution to Hong Kong's medical and health services.

The Institute of Immunology

16. The conquest of disease, especially infectious diseases, by the application of the principle of immunization is one of the most colour- ful and exciting stories in the history of medicine. Starting in the 18th century with the epoch-making discovery of Sir Edward JENNER, and proceeding to the classical experiments of Louis PASTEUR in the 19th, it has progressed into the 20th century with the work of Sabin and Salk. The list of diseases preventable by immunization is now a most impressive one. The control and eradication of these diseases have made the world a different place, and millions of lives have been saved.

17. In Hong Kong, in the first few years after the end of World War If there were still epidemics of smallpox and cholera, and the incidences of other infectious diseases, such as diphtheria, tuberculosis and poliomyelitis were high. But as a result of a large scale immuniza- tion campaign coupled with other preventive measures, smallpox has

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disappeared since the last case in 1952. The immunization of infants and children is now accepted by parents in relation to diphtheria, whooping cough, poliomyelitis and tuberculosis. We continue to meet with some traditional resistance only with regard to immunization against measles, but even here, more and more parents are gradually being convinced.

18. Against such a background, the Department's new Institute of Immunology in Victoria Road was opened in 1972. The new building replaced the old vaccine institute in Caine Lanc. In designing the building, the planners had to keep pace with the many recent advances in the science of immunology.

19. For example, the designers bad to consider the World Houch Organization's recommendations for public health laboratories, namely that separate laboratory facilities be provided for the manufacture of bacterial and viral vaccines as a precaution against contamination. The Institute continues to produce human vaccine for the public health service in Hong Kong. In times of emergency, if required, it will also produce certain vaccines for export to other countries in the region to meet their urgent needs. Completion of the Institute signified a further step in the development of this particular field of the health services in Hong Kong.

Termination of Pregnancy and Venereal Diseases

20. The Offences Against the Person Ordinance was amended during the year to afford more protection to doctors involved in the thera- peutic termination of pregnancy. Regulations made under the amended Ordinance allowed 11 hospitals to carry out such therapeutic terminations.

21. Unfortunately, publication of the amendments and the names of the 11 hospitals led to mis-interpretation of the issue by some members of the Press and public that abortion had been legalized in Hong Kong. This was subsequently corrected.

22. The incidence of veneral diseases rose by 12 per cent during the year, an increase considered slight compared with many other parts of the world. Among teenagers, the incidence was approximately 6 per cent of the total cases of venereal disease.

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