Annual report of the Ministry of Health / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Ministry of Health.
Date:
[1961]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Ministry of Health / Uganda Protectorate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    5. Progress on the construction of the New Mulago Hospital has been maintained and there is still every reason to expect that the building will be completed by the scheduled date of July 1962. The Mulago Autonomy Committee, appointed in 1959 under Mr. W. D. D. Fenton’s chairmanship, was preparing its final report towards the end of the year. This Committee in its turn has received a report from Professor W. Melville Arnott of the University of Birmingham, and Mr. Geoffrey A. Phalp of the United Birmingham Hospitals, who visited Uganda from the 24th October to the November, 1960. The expert advice that this Committee has thus received will be incorporated in the final report. 6. The beginning of the year coincided with the disruption of medical and health services in the Congo, and there were also disturbances in Ruanda- Urundi. As a result there has been an increase in migration from these territories into Uganda. From these areas there has been threats of the introduction of plague and smallpox, and an increasing number of rabid dogs in the border areas has caused very serious concern. Special investigations were carried out in several areas where there was a risk of introduction of plague; the Vector Control Division intensified training in anti-plague for the staff in these areas and emergency arrangements were prepared to deal with any sudden outbreaks. In the event no cases of plague occurred in Uganda and the incidence of this disease in the Congo appeared to be diminishing at the end of the year. Some cases of smallpox were introduced into the West Nile District but effective vaccination campaigns, not only in this district but in all the areas contiguous with the Congo and Ruanda-Urundi borders, were vigorously maintained and no serious outbreaks of the disease occurred. With regard to rabies energetic measures were taken by the Veterinary Department to inoculate all dogs in the border districts, especially in Kigezi and West Nile. A large number of people were inoculated with rabies vaccine in these areas; fortunately there was only one death of a proved case of human rabies; this occurred in Kigezi District. Quantities of vaccine, both of the pre-exposure and post-exposure types, were kept available in all districts at risk. 7. Malaria continues to be the major endemic disease in the country. There is reason to believe that the disease is on the increase, and that the rising numbers of reported cases is not entirely due to the increased popularity of the hospital services. It is almost certain that this rise is the result of an increase in man-made breeding places due to the indiscriminate removal of soil from burrow pits by road constructors, uncontrolled irrigation schemes, and the increased construction of fish-ponds in areas which previously had a low incidence of malaria. The World Health Organisation malaria unit in Kigezi completed a successful year. It has been calculated that approximately 100,000 people have been protected, principally in the areas of north Kigezi. Towards the end of the year plans were being made for a surveillance of this area in the light of expected staff difficulties. 8. The administration of Sabin’s oral poliomyelitis vaccine in urban and peri-urban areas of Uganda was continued and during the year 160,000 people received a second dose of the vaccine. It is intended that the oral vaccine should be available at all district centres in addition to the Salk vaccine. Oral vaccine