ENG-1960 — Page 166

HEALTH

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to give a more accurate picture of the prevalence and distribution of malaria in the New Territories, in which blood smears are taken from all febrile patients under ten years of age attending rural clinics and dispensaries.

Diphtheria. Due to the rapidly increasing number of young children and to the poor reception by much of the population of the wide-spread facilities for immunization, there has been a dis- turbing rise in the incidence of diphtheria during recent years. The main concentration of the disease is in the densely-populated tenements of Kowloon and New Kowloon. In previous years, an intensive immunization campaign has been held during the cooler months between September and February. In 1960, the campaign was prolonged throughout the year with particular emphasis on making the inoculation facilities available as near as possible to the individual home. House-to-house visits were conducted for the greater part of the year in resettlement blocks and other crowded districts, and teams of inoculators visited squatters on hillsides and on roof-tops. Continuous use was made of every available propaganda device to stress the dangers of the disease and to tell parents about the facilities available for the protection of their children. This intensive effort has met with some success, for the number of cases of diphtheria reported during 1960 was 637 less than during 1959, but it is thought that about half the children under ten years of age have as yet no protection against the disease. The case fatality rate from diphtheria has shown a con- tinuing decline during recent years, being 6.6% during 1960 as compared with 10.5% in 1956.

Enteric Fever. With the exception of a sharp upsurge in 1959, the number of cases of enteric fever reported has been com- paratively constant in each of the last five years. This may be ascribed to the gradual extension of a safe water supply and of water-borne sewage, for the disease remains particularly prevalent in squatter areas on the Kowloon Peninsula. The progressive fall in mortality has been effected by the use of chloramphenicol. Owing to the concentration on diphtheria immunization throughout the year no intensive prophylactic drive was possible against enteric fever. However, facilities for inoculation remained freely available for any individuals or organizations who wished to make