Annual report of the Medical Department / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Medical Department.
Date:
[1948]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

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

    10/74 (page 4)
    Kampala and Entebbe, the final disposal being by shallow trenching. The system works well enough, but close supervision of disposal is essential. 7. Water Supplies Piped water supplies are now available in many of the larger townships and plans are being made for their installation in townships where they do not exist. Water supply schemes were completed at Fort Portal, Hoima and Kabale, and the existing supply at Gulu was augmented. At Masaka and Mbarara work was in progress which will provide these townships with purified piped supplies from the Nabajuzi and Ruizi Rivers respectively. The pumping plant at Gaba which provides Kampala with its water was working to utmost capacity, giving a delivery rate of 850,000 gallons of water daily. A continuous service was maintained throughout the year by increasing the pumping capacity of the plant and by cutting off a large number of stand pipes in the yards of dwellings which were a constant source of wastage. The growth of population in other townships provided with piped supplies has likewise resulted in an increase of water consumption, but in every case adequate supplies were maintained. At Jinja work was commenced which, when completed, will increase the pumping capacity of the plant by nearly one-half. Encouraging progress was made in the construction and maintenance of protected seepage springs in rural areas, particularly in Mengo District. Many new bore-holes were constructed by the Geological Survey Depart¬ ment, the programme including Bukalasa and Serere Agricultural Stations and Ongino Leper Settlement. Samples of domestic water supplies from various sources were submitted periodically for bacteriological examination at the Department’s laboratory in Kampala. 8. School Hygiene Owing to the shortage of professional staff it has not yet been possible to inaugurate a Protectorate-wide school medical service. All children attending the Government European School in Kampala have been subject to regular medical inspection and supervision since 1945, but with the appointment of a lady medical officer to Kampala in the latter half of 1948 it became possible to extend this service to the children of all communities attending schools in the Township. By the end of the year 2,986 children (1,904 boys and 1,082 girls) had been fully examined, and a series of detailed and informative reports had been submitted. In addition, a small tuberculin test survey was undertaken in some of the African and Asian schools in Kampala and a report submitted. The results of these investigations are summarised and discussed in Sections III (iii) and II (i) (b). Elsewhere than in Kampala the medical examination of pupils was limited to routine inspections at certain schools. In most Districts a high proportion of school premises were inspected and defects in sanitary conditions brought to the notice of the authorities concerned.