ENG-1976 — Page 119

HEALTH

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Diphtheria has been brought under control. There was only one case in the year. Mass immunisation was continued to maintain a high level of immunity among children.

Poliomyelitis has been eradicated for the past three years. Oral vaccine is offered at family health service centres throughout the year and a general immunisation campaign is carried out in January and March each year. About 97 per cent of infants receive one dose of polio-vaccine soon after birth and 83 per cent receive two doses of trivalent vaccine later. Epidemiological surveillance of the disease is being maintained.

Measles is most prevalent among children under five years and the pattern of infection is characteristically biennial. The incidence of measles increased from May to July, but it did not reach epidemic proportions. Immunisation campaigns were conducted to reduce the incidence.

Viral hepatitis shows a cyclic peak every third year. The last upsurge of cases occurred in 1975. Most cases were among male adolescents and adults.

Hospitals

There are 19,270 hospital beds in Hong Kong, representing 4.4 beds per thousand of the population. This figure includes beds in private hospitals and maternity and nursing homes, but not those maintained by the Armed Forces. In some hospitals temporary beds are used whenever the need arises.

There are three major acute government hospitals. The largest is Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon with 1,898 beds. The millionth patient was admitted in January 1976, marking the 13th year of service of the hospital. Construction on the extension of the casualty department was completed during the year, relieving the congestion in the examination and waiting areas.

The 1,340-bed general wing of Princess Margaret Hospital became fully opera- tional in 1976 after being opened the previous year. It serves as a general hospital for northwest Kowloon and the west New Territories. It also contains an infectious diseases unit, a geriatric unit and a corneal transplant unit.

Queen Mary Hospital has 1,161 beds and is the main general hospital on Hong Kong Island. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong.

In addition there are a number of convalescent, maternity, and special or district hospitals, some of which are fairly small, operated by the government to support the regional hospitals. A number of treatment centres are maintained in the penal institutions.

In the voluntary sector there are 21 hospitals with 7,913 beds. Most of them are acute, convalescent, general, or special hospitals. The voluntary organisations receive heavy financial assistance from the government annually. There are also 11 private hospitals with 2,175 beds.