Annual report of the Medical Department / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Medical Department.
Date:
[1941]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Medical Department / Uganda Protectorate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    (c) Helminthic Diseases. The number of cases of infection with intestinal parasites recorded in the returns includes only those patients whose symptoms are diagnosed as due to such parasites. Many other infections are discovered during the routine examination of the stools of in-patients in hospitals but are not separately reported, though treatment is given when advisable. Ancylostomiasis.—2,589 cases were recorded. Although the infection appears to be widespread, medical officers report that as a rule it causes little disability. Schistosomiasis.—442 cases were reported. There were 5,468 cases of other helminthic infections, of which the most common were Taenia and Ascaris. Note.—Cases from the smaller dispensaries not under the direct charge of qualified officers are not included in the foregoing figures. VITAL STATISTICS. The vital statistics for the Protectorate are given in Tables A and B. The population has been calculated from the census figures of 1931, by the addition of births and the subtraction of deaths in each subsequent year. Birth Rate and Death Rate.—Live births exceeded deaths by 35,803 and the population increased by 9 56 per thousand, the corresponding figures for 1940 being 39,420 and 10'64. All districts showed an excess of live births over deaths. Still-Birth Rate.—The number of still-births recorded was 3,834 compared with 3,583 in 1940 but these figures are probably not accurate. The percentage of still-births to the total of live births and still-births ranges from 0*75 in Teso to 6-64 in Bunyoro. The rate for the Protectorate was 3 47. Infant Mortality Rate.—This was 123*99 per thousand live births. It still remains high in the West Nile (185'61) Acholi (195*20) and Busoga (215*40) while the lowest figure was found this year in Kigezi 40'55. Maternal Mortality Rate.—The rate fell from 7'98 to 7 15. The figures given are probably not very reliable. HYGIENE AND SANITATION. Nutrition.—A sub-committee of the Development and Welfare Committee was appointed to deal with this question but owing to depletion of staff consequent on the exigencies of the local campaign any such specialist undertaking as a nutrition survey had to be held in suspense and no nutritional investigations were carried out. Social Welfare.—Considerable progress has been made, with the full co-operation of the people concerned, in the scheme of a model mutalla mentioned in the 1940 report. The construction of houses in cob has proceeded well and it is expected that the first of these, at an approximate cost of not more than £10 each, will be ready for occupation early in 1942. Fruit tree plots and pole plots of cape lilac have been planted for each household and available springs have been impounded and separate watering places for man and cattle demarcated. Satisfactory progress was made in the erection of the combined hall and school, and the dispensary and staff houses. Disposal of night soil and rubbish.—Incineration or burial are the usual methods of disposal throughout the Protectorate. Although the Indore system has proved efficient in the stations where it has been tried out; its general use is at present precluded by the difficulty experienced in disposing of such compost even though distributed free of cost.