D. J. M. Mackenzie

David James Masterton Mackenzie (Traditional Chinese: , 23 July 1905 – 10 March 1994) was a British colonial medical official. From January 1958 to September 1963, he was Director of Medical and Health Services of Hong Kong, being the last non-Chinese person to hold that post, and an official member of the Legislative Council.

Born in New Zealand, Mackenzie spent his childhood in the United Kingdom and graduated from the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in 1929. He moved to South Africa in 1932 and joined the Colonial Medical Service in 1934. He was Director of Medical Services of Bechuanaland from 1946 to 1949, of Nyasaland from 1949 to 1955, and of Northern Nigeria from 1955 to 1957. Having served in the medical departments of a number of British colonies and protectorates in Africa for some 23 years, he had become an expert of tropical diseases and infectious diseases in that region.

As Director of Medical and Health Services of Hong Kong, preventing and controlling infectious diseases had become his prime objective. When the territory was twice hit by cholera outbreaks between August and October 1961 and 1962, he adopted a number of effective emergency measures to combat the disease, such as to set up a temporary cholera hospital and a quarantine station-cum-isolation camp, and more importantly, set up a large number of vaccination points in the territory to urge the public to receive free vaccinations. Besides, to satisfy the ever-growing demand, he rapidly expanded the public health system by constructing a number of large-scale hospitals and public health facilities including the North Wing of Kwong Wah Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

In retirement, he served in the Communicable Disease Center in Georgia, the United States, and the medical school of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He resided in Cape Town in later years and died there.

Biography

Early years Mackenzie was born on 23 July 1905 in Maungaturoto, New Zealand. His parents were John Henderson Mackenzie (2 July 1871 – 4 March 1961) and Agnes Masterton, both of whom were Scottish. John, born in Edinburgh, was a minister of the congregational church who was sent to New Zealand for missionary service between 1905 and 1914. Margaret, who adopted the surname Warwick on marriage, had worked in the National Institute of Medical Research of India.

Mackenzie was educated at Rutherford College in Newcastle, England. Between 1930 and 1931, he worked briefly in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He served in that position for a decade and acted as the principal medical officer in several occasions. He was further promoted as Director of Medical Services in 1946 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1947. After six years of service, he was transferred to Nigeria in 1955, succeeding Dr P. S. Bell as Director of Medical Services, Northern Nigeria. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George when he was posted out in 1957. He took the office in January 1958. In addition, he was appointed the Unit Controller of the Auxiliary Medical Services, an official member of the Legislative Council, as well as the president of a number of non-governmental organisations, such as the Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association and the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong. On 21 March 1958, he was appointed an official Justice of the Peace.

At that time, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, diphtheria and cholera were common in Hong Kong as the territory suffered from occasional droughts and there was a continuous, large influx of refugees arriving from mainland China. In the slums on the outskirts of the city, where many refugees lived, there was no sanitised tap water and the overall public hygiene condition was poor, making things even worse. By 1961, as many as 80% of pregnant women who gave birth in hospital agreed to let their new-born babies receive BCG-vaccination within 48 hours. In 1961 and 1962, Hong Kong was twice badly hit by cholera epidemics, during which the city was declared an infected area by the government. The local economy was also badly affected. In a short period of time, the number of people receiving free vaccinations in the territory had grown to 2.5 million. A total of nine cases were diagnosed and only one death was recorded, fewer than in the neighbouring region. These conferences included the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation Cholera Research Laboratory Advisory Council meetings at Dacca, Pakistan (now in Bangladesh), in March and November 1962, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee meetings at Manila, the Philippines, in September 1962 and May 1963.

Another major objective of Mackenzie during his time as Director of Medical and Health Services was to rapidly expand public-health services to satisfy ever-increasing public demand. Other public-health-development projects completed during his tenure included the Sandy Bay Infirmary (now Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Fung Yiu King Hospital) in December 1962 and the Kowloon Rehabilitation Centre in August 1963, etc. Furthermore, the foundation stones of Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital, Li Po Chun Health Centre and the Lions Clubs Government Maternal and Child Health Centre in Kowloon City were laid by him in June, July and September 1963 respectively.

In April 1963, it was announced that Mackenzie would retire and leave Hong Kong in September and would be succeeded by the deputy director, Dr Teng Pin-hui. In September, he attended the Legislative Council meeting for the final time, in which he was thanked by the Governor, Sir Robert Black, for his performance in the past five and a half years. In October 1963, soon after his departure, Hong Kong was again hit by a minor cholera outbreak Mackenzie was the last non-Chinese person to hold the post of Director of Medical and Health Services of Hong Kong. All his successors were ethnic Chinese.

Later years Mackenzie lived in retirement in the United Kingdom. Between 1965 and 1969, he was a visiting scientist under the Malaria Eradication Program of the Communicable Disease Center at Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. As a part of the Malaria Eradication Global Strategy of the WHO, he also served as the WHO Consultant of the Thailand Study Team from July to August 1968. He died in Cape Town on 19 March 1994, aged 88. Throughout his lifelong medical and academic career, he published research articles on cholera and other infectious diseases in academic journals, government reports and other publications. The couple had two daughters. Mrs Mackenzie died in Cape Town on 14 January 1993. ) Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) (King's Birthday Honours List 1947 ) Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (MRCPE) (1956 ) Official Justice of the Peace (J.P.) (21 March 1958