Annual report of the Medical Department / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Medical Department.
Date:
[1949]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

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

    16/64 (page 12)
    45* During February a short course of instruction in nutrition was given at Makerere College by experts from the United Kingdom under the guidance of Professor B. S. Platt, Consultant on Nutrition to the Colonial Office. The course was attended by workers drawn from various departments in East African territories whose work had a bearing on nutritional problems. 46. A member of the Directorate of the Medical Department represented Uganda at an inter-territorial conference on nutrition held at Dchang in the French Cameroons in October. C. Communicable diseases (1) Arthropod-Borne 47. Malaria.—Malaria still maintains its importance as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in hospital admissions, although in recent years there has been a large decline in reported deaths from the disease among Europeans and (to a lesser extent) Asians. The available evidence suggests that no appreciable change has taken place in its incidence among the general African population. Table 12 Deaths of Europeans due to Malaria * 1930- 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 Deaths from Malaria Total deaths from all causes ... Percentage of deaths due to malaria ... 32 162 1 36 v_ 0 3i 3 39 1 38 _> i9'7% 3-5% * Includes blackwater fever. N,B.—In interpreting the above table, two landmarks should be borne in mind: (i) the introduction of mepacrine (atebrin) in 1932 and the gradual ousting of quinine by mepacrine for the treatment of blackwater fever; (ii) the scarcity of quinine during the war years and its replacement by mepacrine and paludrine for prophylaxis against malaria. Table 13 Deaths due to Malaria—All non-natives 1936- 1940 1946 1947 1948 1949 Deaths from malaria 342 77 43 43 35 Total deaths from all causes ... Percentage of deaths due to... 737* 251 231 235 224 malaria ... 28% 3i% 19% 18% 16% * 3 years only. 48. It is now an unusual event to become infected with malaria in some of the major towns. Entebbe reported six breeding places of anopheline vectors during the whole year, and only four Europeans were known to be infected within the township. In Kampala Munici¬ pality, 259 breeding places were reported, but only 13 adult anophelines were caught in dwellings during the year. Of 103 patients treated for malaria in the Government European and Asian Hospitals, only 10