Report on the public health / Southern Rhodesia.

  • Southern Rhodesia. Department of Health.
Date:
[1947]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the public health / Southern Rhodesia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    49/50 (page 45)
    46 Illicit Native Liquors. During the year we analysed 745 samples of Illicit Native Liquor. There seems to be no lessening of the evils of Skokiaan brewing and all that the Police are able to do under the present system is keep what check they can on it and try to prevent the menace getting out of hand Three out of every four samples analysed, were over strength, and hundreds of affidavit reports were issued, these invariably resulting in prosecution of the vendors, and the imposition of heavy fines. Clinical Work. We continue to assist the Public Health Laboratories at Salisbury and Bulawayo by performing for them the more difficult chemical determinations, such as analysis of stools for split and un-split fat, the colloidal gold test on cerebro-spinal fluid, etc. We have also examined a fairly large number of drugs and chemicals from the Medical Store, some for actual identification, some for conformity with B.P. standards, others for assay for alkaloidal content. These analyses often take up a very considerable amount of time. A native herbalist who had prepared numerous mixtures of dried herbs, roots, leaves, etc., purporting to cure or alleviate all sorts of ailments, applied for a permit to export his products. As a result, they were sent to this Laboratory for analysis, and we found four of them to be decidedly toxic, and probably dangerous in the dosages recommended. Maize Meal Samples. We analysed 34 samples of maize meal in connection with the usual yearly Government Contract and made recommendations based on our findings. Only half a dozen other samples were received during the year. Once a miller has submitted his sample in connection with the annual contract, and should he not be above such practices, he can with impunity supply adulterated meal for the rest of the year for all the check that, is ever kept on him. The position regarding quality of maize meal supplies in the Colony is not satisfac¬ tory. The standards of fineness have been relaxed so that meal supplied to-day is coarse and unpalatable compared with the product the native was used, to in days gone by, and in addition it is only when some specific complaint is received that a sample is taken for check analysis. These conditions have largely been brought about owing to the serious shortage of maize and also to the impossi¬ bility in many instances of effecting replacements to milling machinery, but nevertheless every effort should be made to improve the position as soon as possible. Foodstuff Samples. Only 26 samples of foodstuffs—other than those mentioned, such as milk and mealie meal—were analysed during the year. This aspect of the work, which should be of such very great importance, is being more and. more lost sight of. Even though the Food and Drugs Act is quite obsolete, it should nevertheless be possible to sample a number of articles in common use with good effect. A large number of not-so-well-known brands of tinned foodstuffs have recently been imported and the wholesomeness of some of these might well be open to question. There appears to be no proper policy of regular sampling on the part of Health Inspectors. Miscellaneous. The Miscellaneous Samples invariably cover an interesting range, and this year they were no exception. They included samples of sludge, oil, and paint from a seized up Diesel engine; boiler scales; whitings; disinfectants; a germi¬ cide submitted in connection with a Workmen’s Compensation claim; bituminous paint used to coat water pipes; effluents; a crystalline solid prepared many years ago by natives as a gunpowder ingredient and found to be over 90% potassium nitrate; linen with brown stain markings for identification, and advice re removing; methylated spirit for behaviour of denaturant; cider for critical examination; anthracite coals; deposit from an aircraft fuel filter; and many others. The “non-routine” samples help to maintain keenness and interest and not infrequently tax the analyst’s ingenuity and resourcefulness to a considerable degree.