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Annexe Q.
OFFICE OF HEALTH OFFICER OF THE PORT.
REPORT BY DR. G. P. Jordan, Health Officer of the Port.
During the year the work of this Department was carried on by Drs. Jordan, Keyt, and Lindsay Woods.
The work of this Department may be divided under three separate headings:-
(a) Daily inspection of ships arriving in port.
(b) Medical examination of emigrants.
(c) Quarantine duty.
(a.)-DAILY INSPECTION OF SHIPS ARRIVING IN PORT.
During the year there were 7,144 arrivals in port; of this number 3,004 were under the British flag, and 4,140 under various foreign flags. These vessels were all boarded as they arrived in port, and particulars of the voyage regarding sickness and deaths were duly recorded in Forms A and B, signed by the master or surgeon. Further all passengers and crews of those ships which arrive from infected ports undergo a careful medical examination in quarantine. River steamers from Canton, Wuchow, and Macao are not boarded, except in the event of infectious diseases and deaths, and they are not included in the above figures.
(b.)-MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF EMIGRANTS.
During the year there has been a decrease in the Emigration figures, the total being 96,342 as compared with 117,536 for 1916 : showing a deficiency of 21,194. This is primarily due to the lack of ships, a large number of the British India steamers being taken up by the Admiralty for transport purposes; whereas the few that remain are of small carrying capacity and inadequate to deal with the large numbers of labourers desirous of leaving the Colony for the Straits Settlements and other ports.
Table I shows the numbers of emigrants and crews passed and rejections.
Table II gives the monthly emigration figures and also of the crews.
Table III gives a list of the diseases which are accountable for the rejection of 1,423 emigrants during the year.
799 were rejected for parasitic diseases of the skin alone, while 299 were rejected for trachoma and ophthalmia.