X1000307-1949-50_Part01 — Page 18

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98. In addition the Health Inspectorate conducted routine activities such as the prevention of sale of cut fruit, shell fish or ice cream products made by unlicensed factories. There are also routine sampling of milk and ice cream. All food factories, restaurants and eating houses were inspected regularly.

99. Immunisation against diphtheria was carried out in school and infant welfare centres. Plans were laid to increase this service amongst infants and young children in 1950.

100. Government and Service Medical Officers still con- tinued to notify malaria cases thus providing some means of checking on the incidence and locality of such cases.

101. Services Medical Officers notified infective hepatitis by courtesy.

(ii) Health Education.

102. This has now become a recognized branch of the Medical Department's activities. A regular programme ja arranged to cover all parts of the Colony in rotation, including the New Territories. One of the principal methods used is a cinema van fitted with a generator, projector and public address system and with a screen so shaded that it can be used during the day time. Films produced by the Medical Depart- ment and imported films are shown in this way and addresses are given on health matters which are of current importance. The education programme has been furthered with the assis- tance of Radio Hong Kong and the main cinemas, and to lesser extent by the issue of posters.

103. Spitting in the streets, which had improved con- siderably, had a set-back with the arrival of large numbers of refugees; but the anti-spitting talking film produced by one of the local film studios combined with anti-spitting posters has had a good effect.

104. The anti-spitting patrols were continued during the year with an Inspector doing this duty one day each week in the larger districts in the urban area, A Police van co-operated with the inspector and a policeman arrested any individual found spitting who was then put into the van and charged at the Police station of the district. Some offcnders were allowed out on bail, usually of about $30; others were detained, having no money. In all 640 arrests were made in Hong Kong and 248 in Kowloon. By the end of the year the situation improved and it was decided to cease the patrols, but policemen were instructed to approach offenders and warn them.

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105. No general health week was held during 1949 but in October a special effort was made in connection with children. This was called "Baby Week" but in fact lasted 3 weeks; each of the three principal Infant Welfare Centres held an exhibition covering one week. These exhibitions were supported liberally by press and radio and by Rediffusion. Among the principal visitors to the exhibitions were senior school children of whom 1,880 attended. Excluding children under 14 a total of 7,545 visits were paid. Talka and demonstrations were given by the nurses at the centres throughout the day for the whole period of the week and evidence of the success of this project has been shown be requests received subsequently from schools for in- struction on infant welfare work to be given by the nurses from these centres to the senior pupils.

106. A special effort at educating the public in connection with rabies was made in the autumn as it proved exceedingly difficult to make dog owners appreciate the seriousness of the situation produced by the rabies outbreak.

107. Two films were produced by the department during the year, the titles being "Family Health" and "Good Habits" also a film strip entitled "Healthy Family".

(iv) Port Health Work.

108. The activities of the Health Officer cover work at the Port of Victoria, the railway terminus and Kai Tak Airport.

109. The staff of the Port Health Office consists of a Port Health Officer, a Second Port Health Officer and Seven Assistant Port Health Officers.

110. Further work was done on the plans for the quaran- tine station at the old Rennie's Mill site at Junk Bay. Estimates and plans were obtained from Singapore and the Philippine Islands for comparison and the scheme was brought to the stage where financial approval was needed before further work could be done.

111. During the year 13,707 ships and junks with 592,186 passengers and 584,102 crew were examined at the quarantine anchorages. 11 cases of infectious disease, & of chicken pox and three of measles, were removed and one ship, S.S. Ninghai from Bangkok, a cholera-infected port, was held in quarantine for 24 hours as a result of a suspected case of cholera.