I.
ADMINISTRATION
(Tables 1
The Medical and Health Department is responsible for providing a whole range of medical and health care for the community of Hong Kong- A total of 17,361 staff, including 1,097 medical staff and 6,442 nuraing staff was employed in 1979 to provide a good quality service.
The Department's expenditure for the financial year was $1,039 million which represented 7.5% of the total public expenditure of Hong Kong.
Six statutory councils and boards are set up to deal with the registration of doctore, dentists, nurses and midwives and mattera 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 of service.
General
II.
VITAL STATISTICS
(Tables 7 - 20)
About
The estimated mid-year population of Hong Kong in 1979 was 4.90 million, an increase of 6.3% compared with the previous year. 27% were under 15, and 6.0% 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 16.8 per thousand population, as compared with 17.2 in 1978.
Infant Mortality Kate
The infant mortality rate was 13.3 per thousand live birtha compared with 11.8 in 1978. The rate was however inflated by the relatively larger number of infant deaths occurred to the Vietnamese refugees. Excluding infant deaths and births of Vietnamese refugess, the infant mortality rate came down to 12.6. The rate is lower than many European and American countries. This is partly attributable to the development of maternal and child health services and partly to improvementa in social and environmental conditions. The major causes of infant deaths were hypoxia, birth asphyxia and other respiratory conditione, congenital anomalies, pneumonia and immaturity.
Figure 1 shows the infant and neo-natal mortality rates for the past 19 years.
/Maternal
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