The medical report for the State of Perak.

  • Perak.
Date:
[1908]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The medical report for the State of Perak. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/20 (page 7)
    The officers in medical charge of the two gaols write favourably of the health of the convicts. At the Convict Establishment the larger number treated and the higher daily average of sick is accounted for by the fact that a greater number of convicts were admitted to gaol, and particularly owing to the reception of short-sentenced prisoners, who were in impaired health on admission. There was an improvement in the rate of mortality at both institutions, and specially at Batu Gajah. Dr. Clarke attributes this improvement to the change made at the Kinta Gaol on the 25th March, by replacing the ordinary white Rangoon rice by parboiled rice. There was only one death from beri-beri, and that was in the month of Ferbuary. At the Convict Establishment, on the other hand, the prisoners continued to be fed on Rangoon rice, and the only exception was that the subjects of beri-beri were put on to parboiled rice. Dr. Wood states that no fresh cases of beri-beri occurred and that the 26 cases treated were “ readmissions of old cases.” LEPER ASYLUMS. 14. Pulau Pangkor Laut.—There was an increase in the total treated from 43 in 1907 to 47 in 1908, and there was a satisfactory decrease in the death-rate from 18.60 per cent, to 10.64 per cent, in 1908. Three male lepers, who absconded, were subsequently found and returned to the island. Pul An .Terejak.—The total treated increased from 145 in 1907 to 160 in 1908, and the death-rate in the same periods from 22.06 per cent, to 23.75 per cent. LUNATIC ASYLUM. Year. Total treated. Daily average. Deaths. Percentage of deaths. 1907 313 142.68 59 18.84 1908 300 139.68 88 29.33 The return shows a decrease in number treated and a smaller daily average with a larger number of deaths and a higher rate of mortality. Dr. Wood, the Acting Medical Officer, reports that the principal cause of death was dysentery which prevailed throughout the year. He remarks on the difficulty of treating dysentery amongst new admissions, owing to the debilitated condition in which most of the lunatics are received at the asylum. The wards, on the male side, are old and unsuitable and would predispose to the spread of bowel disease. An improvement in the general health of the insane may be looked forward to on their transfer to the new Federal Asylum now under construction at Tanjong Rambutan. women’s HOSPITAL. 16. The attendance, both in and outdoor, at this place, I regret to say, has fallen oft' .- Year. Indoor. Outdoor. 1907 . 163 •«• • • • 1,423 1908 . 22 ... 742 OUTDOOR DEPARTMENT. 17. (a) Dispensaries ATTACHED TO HoSPITALS- Year. New cases. Repetitions. Total visits, 1907 . 35,755 15,856 51,611 1908 . 43,263 19,690 62,953 (b) Travelling Dispensaries— Year. New cases. Repetitions. Total visits. 1907 . 24,170 11,000 35,170 1908 . 24,704 8,687 ... - 33,391 The dispensaries attached to hospitals record a larger attendance, but there was a falling oft m the travelling dispensaries, and is due to stoppage of work at certain centres in Kinta, where mines had closed. VACCINATION. 13. In all, 10,707 subjects were inoculated against 10,775 in 1907. Out of these, 8,440 were perfect; 78.82 per cent, compared with 76.74 per cent., the results of the previous year. Failures amounted to 927, or 8.68 per cent. The Malays contributed the bulk of the cases, 7,554, the Chinese follow with 2,001.