Annual report of the Director, Medical & Health Department / Colony of Mauritius.

  • Mauritius. Medical and Health Department.
Date:
[1921]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Director, Medical & Health Department / Colony of Mauritius. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/26 (page 13)
    < , - : X Medical & Health Department 13 RURAL DISTRICTS in the several sanitary sections of the rural districts, the number of contraventions detected by the Sanitary Officers amounted to 3,618 giving rise to 2,451 prosecutions with a total of Rs. 15,484.16 fines. 17,519 notices, orders and requests were served under the several Sanitary Ordinances and Regulations. Of these, 2,973 were not complied with and resulted in 2,494 prosecutions with aggregate fines of Rs. 9,698.62. The revenue derived from fees collected in Cemeteries, Markets and Abattoirs were Rs. 24,016.52, Rs. 1,391.90 and Rs. 24,976 respectively, and the annexed statement shows the number of cattle slaughtered in the several abattoirs of the Colony. (Annexure G.) The Government and State-Aided Schools were each visited twice during the year for the purpose of examining the spleens of children. Almost all these school buildings, with very few exceptions, are not constructed to serve the purposes for which they are being used. The latrines are on the whole defective and generally badly kept. Regular Medical Inspection of schools has now been started. As regards the domestic water supply, the districts of Plaines Wilhems and Moka, using the Mare-aux-Vacoas water, have the best possible supply. In Pamplemousses the supply from the rivers and canals is bad and that from the wells and Le Plessis Spring is good. Riviere du Rempart has good supplies from caves and wells, but the greater part of the district of Flacq is supplied with good water by pipes from River Dubois and Rivulet Jamblon. In Grand Port, River Citron and Be-Manique afford a good supply of water, and in Savanne, River des Anguilles and River Patate with wells, rivers and canals constitute the. principal sources of water supply. In Black River the public fountains supply good water for drinking purposes but the water from rivers, wells and canals are liable to pollution during heavy rains. At Chamarel, springs and rivers afford a good supply, and indigenous water-borne diseases are unknown in the locality. f THE CIVIL MEDICAL STORES The following is a summary of transactions of Medical Stores during the year 1921. 1. Cost of drugs, chemicals, instruments received and repairs to instruments and appliances, etc., was Rs. 194,323,04. 2. Value of drugs, chemicals, instruments, etc., issued to Government Institutions, Rs. 52,172,40. 3. Value of disinfectants, sera, vaccines, etc., issued in connection with plague and other contagious diseases Rs. 16,954.15. 4. Sum realised by sale of medicines, vaccine and sera to private parties, and to Medical Practitioners, sale of unserviceable stores and value recovered for damage to instruments issued to institutions Rs. 963.64. 5. Quantity and cost of quinine issued : 13,7601- ounces costing Rs. 30,922. The institutions to which drugs are issued are as follows : Hospitals 12, Dispensaries 29, Charitable Institutions 10, Schools 150, Police Stations 54, Government Institutions 15. LEGISLATION AND DEPARTMENTAL CHANGES During the year several ordinances were passed, the most important of which had for its object the transfer from the Municipality of Port Louis to Government of the maintenance of roads, bridges, canals, fountains, scavenging, baths and washing places and also the control of common lodging houses. The Sanitary Regulations which received sanction during the year prohibited the sale of vegetables, meat and fish under verandahs of buildings constructed along the alignment of a street, secured early notification of deaths throughout the Colony consequent on the outbreak of plague and checked the transport of sick people from Port Louis to the rural districts. Dr. A. Balfour, M.D., C.M.G., I )irector-in-Chief of the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research, London, arrived in the Colony on April 1st on a special sanitary mission : a series of reports has been submitted by him and these are receiving attention. ' Dr. Balfour left on October 1st. Dr. de Boucherville retired from the post of Government Medical Officer, Grand Port, on the 31st December IMPORTANT MATTERS REQUIRING SPECIAL ATTENTION (1) Satisfactory rat-proofed housing scheme for working classes : combined with— (2) The closing and demolition of slum property (3) An adequate and pure water supply for Port Louis (4) Rat-proof granaries (5) Scheme for proper training, supervision and registration of Mid wives (6) Clinics for treatment of Venereal Diseases (7) The provision of Municipal Depots for the sale of pure milk (8) The erection of septic tanks on approved plans. I arrived in Mauritius in August, 1921, taking charge of the sanitation of Port Louis, and subsequently assuming the administration of the Medical and Health Department. I have to acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered tome during my time of office— to Tour Honour for your invaluable assistance, to His Worship the Mayor of Port Louis (The Honorable E. Nairac), to the Heads and Sub-heads of Departments and to my staff. T. B. GILCHRIST, Acting Director, Medical & Health Dept. 10th July, 1922.