Medical report / Federated Malay States.

  • Federated Malay States. Medical Department.
Date:
[1914]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical report / Federated Malay States. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/34 (page 11)
    ESTATES. The number of estates from which returns are available is 672 against 609 in 1913. The average number of labourers employed was 176,226. which is 12,711 less than in 1913, they are distributed as follows State. Average labour force. Estates. Perak 67,751 294 Selangor . 75,631 231 Negri Sembilan * • * , , , 27,782 129 Pahang ... . ♦ . , ♦ . 5,062 18 No. of labourers. Death-rate Deaths. per mille per annum. 1911 . . 143,614 9,054 62.95 1912 . ... 171,968 ' . 7,054 41.02 1913 . ,.. 188,937 5,592 29.6 1914 . . 176,226 4,635 26.3 State. Death-rate. Perak • •• ,,, ,,, , , , ... ... ... 22.18 Selangor ... ••• ••• , , , ... ... ... 29.8 Negri Sembilan ... • < • , , , , . , . . ... 34.48 Pahang ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 16.19 In the broken hilly country malaria is the principal cause of death; in flat lands lack of good water is largely responsible for sickness. The reduction in death-rate is satisfactory, and as the figures for population and deaths are known the calculations can be accepted with confidence. Several causes contributed towards this diminution in mortality—anti-malarial measures, attention to the general well—being of labourers which was encouraged in 1912 and has been a matter concerning which managers of estates have taken much more trouble, and further improvements in estate sanitation. There are some estates with a very high death-rate—on the majority of them those responsible are making efforts to reduce it—the causes are not due to neglect of ordinary precautions to secure good health but principally due to locality and the difficulties in the way of undertaking anti-malarial drainage The Health Officer, Negri Sembilan, reports that recruiting in Negri Sembilan should be done in small numbers and local recruits are often liable to be coolies who have been discharged from estates as being unsuitable for reasons of health—he also says, on the whole, the health on estates has not shown any improvement, rather the reverse. Four estates have a death-rate of over 80 per rnille, and five estates have a death-rate among Indians of over 100 per mille. During the year, the Principal Medical Officer, Government Chemist, and Dr. Whitbv, Chemical Expert to a group of rubber companies, formed a commission to inquire into the composition of toddy, the favourite beverage of Indians. Some interesting facts were brought to light—-it was curious to discover that toddy would not continue to ferment after about 48 hours and did not become even then a strongly intoxicating liquor—the strongest toddy contained only 8.3 per cent.; alcohol by volume; on the other hand, the prolonged keeping of toddy promoted the formation oInconsiderable quantities of acetic acid—in some samples as much as two-thirds of an ounce of pure acetic acid would be formed in an ordinary bottle of toddy. The disclosure of these investigations on the nature of toddy should be of value to Government. In the first place unadulterated toddy is shown to be a comparatively harmless, beverage, and although it has the reputation of causing intoxication it should not do so except fairly large quantities are imbibed and unless spirit is added to it, and it should be possible to prevent this to a great extent. In the second place prolonged storage of toddy, so that it developes a large content of acetic acid, should be forbidden, a beverage containing so much poisonous acid being very harmful. If toddy manufacture is controlled there is every reason to expect an improvement in health of Indians, especially on estates. It has been thought that the increase of Chinese estate labourers has contributed towards a lowering estate death-rate, because the Chinaman offers greater resistance to disease than the Indian, but the figures for the year 1914 showing race incidence amongst estate labourers do not seem to support this. In Negri Sembilan, for instance, the great difference between the two death-rates of the town of Seremban should be taken into consideration! as the gross death-rate is probably largely made up of Chinese labourers belonging to estates, because they leave a plantation and remove themselves to the town when seriously ill. VETERINARY. Rinderpest. An outbreak of this disease occurred in May at 26th mile, Kuala Selangor-Klan< there were 54 cases with 30 deaths. road, Foot-and-Mouth Disease. Selangor.—With the exception of January, September and October, the disease prevailed all over the State during the year. There was a total of 3,906 cases with 86 deaths. The disease was as usual of the ordinary mild type.