Annual medical and sanitary report / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Medical Department.
Date:
[1933]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

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

    34/76 (page 30)
    Section III. HYGIENE AND SANITATION. A. GENERAL REVIEW OF WORK DONE AND PROGRESS MADE. (I) Preventive Measures. (a) Mosquito and Insect-Borne Diseases. 137. Malaria.—The Entomological -Section of the Agricultural Department undertook mosquito surveys at Bukalasa Experimental Station and at the Luzira Central Prison. Re-surveys of Kampala and Jinja were undertaken and work at Kabale was continued during most of the year. The detailed reports on these surveys are printed in Appendix I. Further afforestation of swampy areas was undertaken by the Forest Department, in connection with anti-malarial works at Eastern Province Government stations; the total cost of these works was .£1,540. An expenditure of .£1,136 on anti-malarial measures other than afforestation was incurred during the year. The reclamation of the swamps comprising the Jinja lake front was continued and half- a-mile of embankment was completed with the concomitant removal of sudd. The Entomologist’s comment on these measures was that “no mosquitoes were to be found breeding in the areas where permanent anti-malarial measures had been applied.” 138. Trypanosomiasis.—Clearings were maintained by the Provincial Adminis¬ tration at all scheduled landings, river crossings and watering places in sleeping sickness areas throughout the Protectorate. All of these clearings and the people using them were inspected by medical officers as often as circumstances permitted. The policy was adopted more generally of following up all cases of trypanosomiasis and endeavouring to ascertain exactly where the infection could have been acquired. This necessitated domiciliary visits and frequently these led to the discovery of comparatively large numbers of new cases in the early stages of the disease. The increased number of cases reported from the Aringa District of the West Nile Area indicated the utility of this routine. Attention was directed to rendering patients non-infective by immediate treatment with Bayer 205 and it is possible that, combined with the systematic tracing up of the circumstances and home conditions of all cases and the maintenance of adequate clearings, this method of prophylaxis is of real value. 139. In certain areas, debushing schemes were put forward and in some instances carried out. The most ambitious recommendation, the debushing of long stretches of the banks of the River Ora in the West Nile, was discovered to be unnecessary after investigation by the Entomologist. As far as possible, the Entomologist carried out investigations to ascertain the distribution of G. palpalis and made recommendations for the control of the fly in connection with each outbreak of trypanosomiasis during the year. 140. Special circumstances in connection with three of the sleeping sickness areas call for separate comment.