Annual report of the Medical Department / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Medical Department.
Date:
[1952]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Medical Department / Uganda Protectorate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/94 (page 11)
    Injuries Injuries are common; two outstanding causes among hospital patients are traffic accidents and wounding by wild animals. The injuries tend to be rather stereotyped in the latter category—buffalo wounds in the groin, leopard wounds on head or upper arm. Road accidents caused 232 deaths in the whole Protectorate. One unusual death in Bugishu was that of a girl of 16 after ritual circumcision. B. Nutrition and Food Supplies In spite of abnormally heavy rains in the beginning of 1952, which continued throughout the year in the Northern Province, the food position was satisfactory. Germination of finger millet was adversely affected, but shortages were only experienced in the Western. Province. Interest in nutrition has fluctuated from time to time. In the years prior to the war, joint surveys were carried out by members of the agri¬ cultural and medical departments, and some valuable results were obtained. This work ceased with the onset of the war, and it was not until hostilities were nearing their end that further investigations were undertaken. With advances in knowledge relating to malnutrition in early childhood, and an increasing realisation of the food requirements of labourers, it became apparent that the adequacy of the state of nutrition of the inhabitants needed to be reviewed. An Advisory Committee on Human Nutrition was therefore formed in 1952 to obtain information on the causes and correction of malnutrition and to advise on action to increase production and improve the availability of foodstuffs. This Committee contains representatives of the Government departments concerned with health and food supplies, together with other persons having special qualifications in these and related fields. The problem of adequacy of diet can be tackled in two ways: in one, the food intake is contrasted with the.theoretical requirements; in the other, search is made for clinical evidence of deficiency. The food intake can be estimated for various levels of requirement (e.g., age, class of work done), and corresponding food balances prepared. Since the bulk of the food eaten is grown on the family’s own cultivated plot, little passing through organised markets or distribution channels, improvised methods of dietary assessment have had to be used. Estimation of territorial production from the recorded acreage of individual crops has been attempted, but the returns from chiefs upon which the calculations were based have shown some obvious defects. These returns will need to be fortified by sample checks and measured surveys if they are to provide reasonably accurate absolute figures. Another dis¬ advantage of the community approach is that it gives only the average amount available, and obscures variations and deficiencies in individual families. In spite of the imperfections of the data, it is apparent that the resources of animal protein are insufficient.