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

  • Mauritius. Medical and Health Department.
Date:
[1934]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

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

    18/134 (page 14)
    33. In the coastal lowlands where the disease is endemic existing drains, channels and other works have been maintained. The length of these channels and water-courses is 1,484,772 feet. Maintenance includes the removal of impediment to the flow of the water ; be it extraneous matter such as fallen trees, soil or boulders, or the removal of aquatic vegetation growing in the channel itself. The maintenance is carried out on the cantonnier system and payment is made by results. Each channel is apportioned into sections varying in length with the nature of the stream bed or other circumstances affecting its maintenance. A man, known as a cantonnier/' is placed in charge of each section and his duty is to keep his section clean of weeds or other impediment to the flow of the water, and to abolish by filling or otherwise, pools in the stream bed which might become mosquito nurseries. Arrangements are made for the regular inspection of these sections by respon¬ sible officers who are required to certify upon the paysheets of the cantonniers, that they have inspected the sections and found them clean an I -properly upkept. Payment is made only upon this certificate. The cantonniers are part-time employes, and have no definite hours of work. They are paid solely by results. The adoption of this system which is due to Dr. A. C. d’Arifat, has made a great saving of time and work for the supervisory staff. It is now only necessary for the supervising officer to walk along the section to enable him to gain the information which enables him to certify the pay sheets, whereas formerly, when labourers were employed by the day, time was often lost in checking the numbers at work and in hunting foi gangs who always seemed to be at the most inaccessible parts of the sections when surprise inspections were made. No claim is made that the maintenance of these works in the coastal areas is an active measure in the eradication of the endemic malaria there. The maintenance is merely a means of holding ground already gained until such time as active measures are considered desirable and feasible. The prolonged drought in the early part of the year undoubtedly reduced the amount of malaria in the rural districts as it did elsewhere in the Colony. 34. Radical work in Port Louis has not been attempted on account of the large expenditure involved. The condition of existing works in the Intra Urban Area has been improved and they have been satisfactorily main¬ tained. There were no heavy floods during the year so that the amount of damage sustained by the works has been trifling and the amount of gravel to be removed from the stream beds much less than usual. The work in Port Louis is conducted by the staff of the Medical Officer of Health. Active measures for the elimination of mosquito nurseries have been confined to the district of Plaines Wilhems. It is here that there is the best prospect of obtaining results which justify the expenditure. Important areas at Curepipe have been drained and existing works have been properly main¬ tained. But the main activities of the Malaria Branch have been the prose¬ cution of surveys in different parts of the district and these shew that there is a good deal more indigenous malaria in the higher parts of Plaines Wilhems than one would think. It is gratifying to note that the disease appears to be so well under control at Curepipe that no indigenous cases can be ascribed to this township. Four miles from Curepipe lies the village of Vacoas, a reputedly healthy area. Nevertheless during the six months March—August 1934, 403 cases were diagnosed clinically as Malaria by the Health Officer Plainees Wilhems. In each case the blood was examined and 173 were positive. There is no doubt that Malaria is endemic in Vacoas, and this view is supported by the high spleen rate of street children ” inhabiting the village, 10.5% of them having enlarged spleens. But the interesting feature