X1000306-1974-75_Part01 — Page 8

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Psychiatry

The concept of treating patients in day- and out-patient centres has proved to be successful. The four centres supplement the inpatient services at the hospitals.

Ophthalmology

During the year the number of persons first registered as blind was 1,447, compared with 904 in the previous year. This large number coming forward for registration was due to the claim for disability allowance. There are three main centres and 15 part-time clinics.

Ear, Nose and Throat

The year sav the regionalisation of the services into the Hong Kong and outlying islands division based at Queen Mary Hospital and the Kowloon and New Territories division based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. service runs nine outpatient clinics in urban and rural areas.

District Midwifery

16.3 per cent of births were delivered at government maternity homes and 7.5 per cent in private maternity homes. These figures show a decrease compared with the previous year as more expectant mothers favour to attend hospitals for confinement.

School Medical Service

The

On 31st March 1975 the mumber of pupils participating was 79,191 from 686 schools, compared with 76,177 from 706 schools on the same date in the previous year. Medical practitioners taking part in the scheme numbered

201 compared with 193.

Registration of Clinics

There were 76 registered static clinics, two registered mobile clinics in the charge of registered medical practitioners, and 338 clinics registered with exemption making a total of 416 on 31st March 1975. 68 registered doctors took part in the low cost medical clinic scheme in Group B and 58 in Group A housing estates. In addition, 34 of 338 clinics registered with exemption also operated under the scheme.

Pathology

VI.

SPECIAL SERVICES

During the year the total number of examinations undertaken by the Institute of Pathology exceeded that of the previous year by 147,150 indicating an increase of 6.4%; this excludes tests done for Queen Mary Hospital which is serviced by the Department of Pathology of the Hong Kong University.

The brains of 34 dogs were examined for Negri bodies but no positive findings were obtained. Among 13,500 specimens of sputum, body fluids and cervical smears, 125 showed evidence of malignancy. There vere also 53,300 biopsy specimens submitted for histopathological diagnosis and 3,303 were tumours of various types.

In the blood banks 47,249 pints of blood were received, 44,424 pints of which were from the collecting centres of the Hong Kong Red Cross.

A

There was no laboratory confirmed case of poliomyelitis. faecal survey also failed to detect any wild poliovirus. This favourable result was in agreement with the serological study which revealed high immunity in children and a decline of the susceptible population from 21% în 1960 to 4.6% this year.

In collaboration with the World Health Organization in the world- vide surveillance of cytomegalovirus infection, the Phase I serologic study revealed a high frequency (94%) of cytomegalovirus antibody in adults between 20 to 30 years of age in Hong Kong.

19.2% of the cases of viral hepatitis vere found positive for hepatitis B antigen. The incidence of hepatitis B antigen in clinical cases ranged from 15% in warm seasons to 24% in winter.

Radiology and Oncology

During 1974 a new X-ray department was opened at St. John Hospital, and a second X-ray room was commissioned in the Casualty Section at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. A 90-second automatic X-ray film processing machine was installed at Shek Kip Mei Chest Clinic. In late 1974 work was completed on a major X-ray installation at Princess Margaret Hospital. A new treatment simulator for radiotherapy was installed at Queen Mary Hospital.

A gamma camera to enable the imaging of internal organs by means of radioisotopes and an automatic liquid scintillation counter were installed at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The 21 static X-ray centres and three mobile radiography units produced a total output of 793,184 examinations, a decrease of approximately 2.5% compared with the previous year. The Institute of Radiology and Oncology treated more than 90% of all patients requiring radiotherapy in Hong Kong and some patients from other arcas-

The film badge service covered 47 government institutions with 400 radiation workers, 129 private practitioners using X-ray equipment with 437 radiation workers, and 19 industrial concerns with 105 persons. Approximately 180 visits were made to non-government premises to inspect the working condition of radiation workers and to assess and ensure the radiation safety to the public at large.