Annual report on the Medical Department / Straits Settlements.

  • Straits Settlements. Medical Department.
Date:
[1931]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the Medical Department / Straits Settlements. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    109/148 (page 85)
    II.—Medical Examination of Boys’ Schools, Singapore 1. Work Done.—The following table gives the numbers of boys systematically examined in Goverment English, Aided and Vernacular Schools : — In Government In Year ayid Aided Vernacular Grand Schools Schools Total 1929 5,859 1,920 7,779 1930 6,067 2,37i 8,438 i93i 6,224 2,388 8,612 2. All the Government, Government-Aided, and Private English Schools numbering fifty-three were inspected as to their sanitary arrangements and accommo¬ dation capacity. Two hundred and ten Chinese Schools, nineteen Malay Schools and ten Tamil Schools were also inspected for the same purpose. 3. Data elicited from systematic examination of boys : — (a) General Condition.— 1929 1930 1931 Good 81-90% 83-52% 88-72% Fair 11-58% I3-25% 9'23% Poor 2’IO% •94% 2-05% (b) Cleanliness.—The percentage of dirty children was i'93% compared with 6-ii% in 1930. (c) Vaccination.—This was performed by the vaccinator attached to the Health Branch. The figures below show a summary of work done. The total vaccinated was 1,834. English Schools Malay Boys' Schools Total 1929 2,700 1,016 3,7i6 1930 00 or H 1,082 2,369 1931 1,022 812 1,834 (d) Eye-sight.—(1) Defective Vision, and (2) Diseases of the eye proper. Total number of pupils with defective vision was 228 cases, diseases of the eye, 305 cases. Under the same category were (a) Trachoma 134, (b) Conjunctivitis 132, (c) Corneal Opacity 3, (d) Squint 15, (e) Other Conditions 21. These cases were sent for treat¬ ment either to the General Hospital, Mandalay Road Hospital or to an out-door dis¬ pensary. (e) The percentage of caries amongst school children was 25’37% compared with 38'53% in 1930 and 49'8% in 1929. A steady improvement is evident from these percentages. (/) It is difficult to persuade children to undergo, and parents to provide for, operative treatment for enlarged tonsils and adenoids, hence there is no improvement to report in the condition of tonsils amongst school children. The percentage of en¬ larged tonsils and adenoids amongst school children for the year 1931 was 22-98% as against 22-30% in 1930. (g) Sanitation.—Visits to schools—The number of visits was 356. Reports and recommendations were submitted to the Inspector of Schools through the Chief Health Officer. (h) Infectious Diseases.—(1) Chicken-pox 31 cases, (2) Measles 21 cases, (3) Whooping Cough 4 cases, (4) Diphtheria 3 cases, and (5) Leprosy 2 cases. (i) Malaria.—Boys with enlarged spleens in English Schools are very few. There were 11 cases only out of the 6,224 children examined. In Malay Schools there were 27 cases out of the 2,388 children examined. In the Pulau Tekong Malay School, situated on an Island, the spleen rate is 15% of the pupils.