I.
ADMINISTRATION
(Tables 1 6)
The Hedical and Health Department is responsible for administering services which provide medical and health care for the community of Hong Kong. To provide a good quality service, a staff establishment of 16,391 of which 990 were medical staff of all grades and 6,259 were nursing staff was needed in 1978.
The Department's expenditure for the financial year was $958 million which represented 8.6% of the total public expenditure of Hong Kong.
T
Six statutory councils and boards deal with the registration of doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives and to handle matters relating to pharmacy and poisons and radiation.
Medical and health services were regionalised in April, 1977. The main objective is to put to the most effective use the facilities and resources available in each region and to provide a high standard service.
General
II. VITAL STATISTICE
(Tables 7 - 20)
The estimated mid-year population of Hong Kong in 1978 was 4.61 million, an increase of 2.0% compared with the previous year. About 28% were under 15, and 5.9% were aged 65 years and over. Despite
a gradually aging population, the general state of health remained favourable and reflected the rapid development of medical and health services.
Birth Rate
The crude birth rate was 17.2 per thousand population, às compared with 17.5 for 1977.
Infant Mortality Rate
The infant mortality rate was 11.8 per thousand live births, a marked improvement over the 13.9 in 1977 The rate is lower than many European and American countries. This decline is partly
attributable to the development of maternal and child health services and partly to improvements in social and environmental conditions. The major causes of infant deaths were congenital anomalies, prematurity, asphyxia and pneumonia.
Figure 1 shows the infant and neo-natal mortality rates for the past 17 years.
/Maternal
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