Annual medical and sanitary report / Bechuanaland Protectorate.

  • Bechuanaland Protectorate. Office of the Director of Medical Services.
Date:
[1948]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual medical and sanitary report / Bechuanaland Protectorate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    section of the community which is most receptive, with this in view* preliminary plans were made towards t_ie end of the year* in conjunction with. one Education. Department* for a regimen of medical examination and me a i cal inspection of teacners in training*school children. In addition* tne proposes go oioe one o Health Centre at Kanye * adjacent to tne feacner a. raiding Centre* has been accepted in principle. Erom this will stem a system of practical health education at the feacner training level. 20. With the staff available* it will not be possible to carry out medical examination and inspection of all school children* It has been decided* tne re f or e * go concentrate on the boarding establishments at Koeng* Mochudi* Khale and Kanye* as a first priority, -as ana when conditions permit* the service will be extended to schools in the large centres of population. 21* Progress was made during the year towards the raising of standards of environmental hygiene, ah African Sanitary Inspector* who had received practical training from the Health Inspectors in the Territory* Wub posted to the large tribal centre at Kanye. There* working under tribal rules* regular inspections have been made oi Kanye village and adjoining centres. Elementary meat Inspection is carried out at two slaughter poles maintain¬ ed by African butchers and the butchers < shops have been inspected regularly. «*. plan and a site for a tribal slaughter pole have been approved* and when the slaughter oole has been comleted. all slaughter of stock for meat will be carried out at this one centre. cciviiuHicable diseases. 22 The outstanding events of the year wer epidemics, of poliomyelitis* diphtheria and smallpox. Towards the end of the year reports began to come in of greatly increased rodent activity throughout the Territory* followed by reports of mortality from the Kalahari district. A rodent epizootic followed by cases of human plague had been reported in the Union of South Africa* and cases of plague occurred In the Kuruman district near the southern border of the Bechuan^land Protectorate, POLIOMYELITIS ■ 23 • During' z.tie pe non ^.p < > i l»o dune* a small_L epidemic of poliomyelitis occurred at Lobatsi in the southern Becliuanaland Protectorate. Four European cases and one African case were diagnosed* all developing paralytic• symptoms. *-*11 the c~.ses were mild -nd all made a good recovery, The first case occurred in a staying at a* V» ci jj.lt 10 C 1 1... 0 OC 1 : on occurred visit from Joi: child a me sourg* where a large epidemic was in progress. The subsequent cases in Europeans* two adults and one child* had all been in close association with the hotel during that period. Poliomyelitis virus w^s recovered from the effluent from the hotel septic tank during the epidemic* but no virus could be obtained, from the stools of immediate contacts. There were a number of cases of mild febrile illness in the community at that time and in retrospect* it would seem certain that they were abortive cases/ • * 0 •