Annual report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India.

  • India. Sanitary Commissioner.
Date:
[1874]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/292 (page 2)
    with this disease. All the cases proved fatal, but the loss on this account is only •21 per 1,000—a remarkable contrast to 10*66 in 1872, 13*84 in 1867, and 23*73 in 1861. Under other heads, also, there is a marked difference. Fevers contribute 3*11 deaths per 1,000, compared with 4*28 in 1870,4*71 in 1869, and 4*85 in 1860. From heat apoplexy, again, the loss in 1874 was only *97, com¬ pared with an average annual ratio of 2*15 during the ten years, 1860—69, with 1*37 in 1873 and 1*62 in 1870. Dysentery accounts for 1*21 deaths per 1,000, which, though not quite so favorable a return as that of either 1871 or 1873, is a great improvement on 2*72, the average annual ratio of 1860—69. The deaths from hepatitis, 1*93 per 1,000, are in smaller proportion than those of any year, except 1873, when they stood at 1*80 per 1,000. In 1870 the ratio was 3*71, and for the ten-year period it averaged 3*31 annually. The loss from respira¬ tory diseases in 1874, *54 per 1,000, was less than in any previous year. The cases of sickness, 1,443 per 1,000, are somewhat in excess of 1,349, the ratio for 1873, and of 1,412 and 1,438, the ratios for 1867 and 1868, but they are lower than those of any one of the other eleven years, and contrast favorably with 1,754, the average of the ten-year period. The diminished sickness is shewn chiefly under the head of fevers and dysentery. When tested by the average daily sick- rate, the ratio for 1874, 58 per 1,000, is somewhat higher than that of either 1872 or 1873. The years 1867 and 1868, also, both show a lower ratio in this respect, hut for the ten-year period the average was 67, or nearly 10 per 1,000 above that of 1874. The general results of the past year in Bengal, as regards both mortality and sickness, may thus be regarded as highly satisfactory. 4. To the army of Madras similar remarks apply. Between 1860 and Army of Madras: similar remarks J870, the lowest death-rate among the European apply- troops in this Presidency, as given by the Sanitary Commissioner, was 16*3 in 1861. In 1871 the ratio was over 20; in both 1872 and 1873 it exceeded 18. In 1874 it was only 12*96 During the eleven years, from 1860 to 1870, the death-rate among European troops in Madras averaged 19*92. For the last four years the average is 17*58. Compared with those of the three preceding years, the only ones for which full statistics have been collected in this office, the results of 1874 are specially favorable as regards cholera, dysentery, and diseases of the heart. The admissions into hospital throughout Madras in 1874 equalled 1,143 per 1,000, the lowest ratio recorded in that Pre¬ sidency, while the daily sick-rate, 57*3, is also lower than that of any years except 1861 and 1863. The comparative absence of cholera in Madras during the past year was even more marked than in Bengal. Out of an average strength of 11,501, only one man was attacked. 5. Among European troops in Bombay, between 1860 and 1870 the death- rate fluctuated from a maximum of 35*1 per 1,000 in 1865 to a minimum of 12*7 in 1866. During this period the average mortality was 21*10. In 1871 the death-rate was 14*02: in 1872 it was 18*86 : in 1873 it was 11*72, the lowest which had up to that time been recorded. In 1874 it was only 10*64. From 1871 to 1874 the annual average has been 13*81. During 1874, in this Presidency, the admissions into hospital equalled 1,286 per 1,000 the lowest ratio ex¬ cepting that of 1868. when they were only 1,148. Tested by the daily sick-rate, the results are also very satisfactory. The daily proportion of men in hospital per 1,000 of strength was, in 1874, 53, the lowest ratio of any of the previous eleven years, excepting 1868 and 1873, in each of which it was only 49. In explanation of the low ratios of mortality and sickness in the Bombay Presidency during 1874, it may be remarked that in this part of the country, as in Bengal and Madras, cholera was at a minimum. Out of an average strength of 10,529 men, there were only three cases, of which two were fatal. Under the heads of heat apoplexy, fevers, and dysentery also, the admissions and deaths were comparatively few. comparison of results in three tality among the European troops during 1874 con- presidencies. trast very favorably with those of previous years. In No. V of the annual tables, the results in each are placed side by side for convenient comparison. It will be seen that in the matter of daily sick, Bombay shews the lowest ratio, 53 per 1,000; Madras comes next with 57, and then Bengal with 58. In regard to admissions into hospital the order is some- Also to the army of Bombay.