ENG-1968 — Page 153

HEALTH

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Tuberculosis remains Hong Kong's principal community health problem and due to the high density of population in Hong Kong it will probably be many years before the disease is completely controlled.

It is believed from the figures which are available that approx- imately one per cent of the population of Hong Kong are suffering from active pulmonary tuberculosis requiring treatment. However, this one per cent is not spread evenly throughout the population: males are affected at least twice as commonly as females, the disease being especially common in elderly men, while drug addicts are a group particularly prone to it. Tuberculosis in the young is now relatively uncommon and the former large numbers of acute and often fatal cases of tuberculosis in infants are now no longer seen.

Government either by subvention or directly through the Govern- ment Chest Service spends more than $16,000,000 yearly on control measures. The tuberculosis control programme is a combined effort between the Government Chest Service, the Hong Kong Anti- Tuberculosis and Thoracic Diseases Association and the Junk Bay Medical Relief Council, while certain other organizations, including the Tung Wah Group and the Caritas Medical Centre also provide treatment facilities, maintained mainly with the aid of substantial government subventions. The Government Chest Service operates six full-time clinics equipped with radiological facilities and 17 subsidiary centres throughout the Colony. Co-ordination is achieved through a committee inaugurated in 1965.

BCG vaccination is regarded as being a most important measure and it is believed that the widespread use of this prophylactic has led to the precipitate fall in tuberculosis in the very young in Hong Kong. During the year 94.1 per cent of babies born in the Colony received BCG vaccination within 72 hours of birth. Bearing in mind that certain babies, e.g. the underweight, the jaundiced, cannot be given BCG, this represents an almost 100 per cent coverage of eligible babies. Vaccine is issued free to all doctors, midwives and hospitals. Tuberculin testing and BCG vaccination where necessary are accepted by about two-thirds of all school entrants, and children aged from two to five attending maternal and child health centres are also tested and vaccinated where necessary.