PUBLIC RECORD
OFFICE
;
Reference :-
C.O. 885
9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO |
Clearing of
the lake
shore.
Special action in the
Peninsula
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dangerous zone on the shore. Doctor Hodges agree with me, in considering that, in most cases, the depopulation of a belt two miles wide, all along the coast, will suffice for our object. I have given the chiefs an assurance that no attempt will be made by the Government to resume possession of the lands temporarily vacated by them, and that if our measures for the repression of sleeping sickness prove successful, they will be allowed later on to replace their people on the lands now about to be depopulated. They have been warned that everyone must be removed before the 31st of March next and that, after the 1st of June, 1907, all huts and banana fields found in occupation will be destroyed. I propose, with Your Lord- ship's sanction, to grant some small compensation to the peasants, who will thus be evicted. The total amount required under this head will not amount to more than £1,000, and will probably be much less.
44. My third recommendation refers to the steps to be taken to eliminate danger from those places on the lake shore from which the population cannot be removed. This point principally affects Entebbe, and the question was dealt with, to some.extent, in my despatch to Your Lordship, No. 195, of 10th October last,* in which I expressed the opinion that the danger from sleeping sickness was not sufficient to warrant the suggestions that had been made, in certain quarters, for the removal of headquarters from the peninsula.
45. I have already stated that, by clearing away the vegetation from the foreshore of the lake, the tsetse fly has been almost completely driven away from the vicinity of the town of Entebbe. It is now extremely difficult to find a single fly, even near the water, and they are never seen within the settlement. £3,947 has been spent during the past three years in this manner. The process of complete clearing is so costly that the necessary work has not gone beyond the boundaries of the township, and the shore of the peninsula, beyond those limits is still infested by flies and very dangerous. I have, therefore, ordered the removal inland of all natives from those parts of the peninsula that have not been freed from tsetse, and instructions have been given to prevent any person from taking water at any places save those that have been rendered safe. A large labour camp is being established at the back of the town, which will be under close medical supervision. All native labourers coming to Entebbe to work, either for the Government or for private immigrant persons, will be required to live and sleep in that camp, and it will no longer be labourers. possible for them to take possession and temporarily occupy banana gardens, close to the lake shore, whose previous owners had died from sleeping sickness. Regula- tions are being drawn up providing for the registration of all natives living in Entebbe. All will be required to wear a badge and to be registered, and as none will be allowed to venture into fly-infested places, they will run no risk of infection during their stay in the Peninsula. It is believed that these arrangements will prevent the danger of any spread of the disease inland by labourers who come from the interior to work temporarily in Entebbe.
of Entebbe. Protection
of
All land
be main- tained
under
proper
46. Besides the clearing done at headquarters, a considerable area has been cleared to similarly treated on the foreshore at Jinja, and at Munyonyo, and with the most satisfactory results. Jinja has been almost completely freed from tsetse flies, and a great decrease in the mortality from sleeping sickness in that locality may be expected. The rapidity with which woods and bush grow in this country entails a constant expenditure in maintaining the cleared areas in proper order. I have, therefore, caused all land so dealt with to be planted with citronella grass. These plantations have been placed under the care of the Botanic Department, and it is hoped that not only will they prove remunerative, but that they will thus serve as object lessons for the encouragement of an industry which appears to find suitable conditions in Uganda. Over 25 acres have already been planted in the environs of Entebbe, and the fields are doing well.
cultiva- tion.
47. Besides the clearings on the neighbourhood of the two towns, the approaches to all the ferries throughout the Protectorate are also receiving the same attention. By thus eliminating tsetse flies from these places, we hope to render unlikely the spread of the discase to uninfected districts inland, and the ferries across the Nile, going northward, are receiving special attention. Dr. Hodges strongly recommends the continuance of clearing the foreshore in the neighbourhood of our stations on the lake. I am entirely in accord with him, and out of such appropriations as may be made for combating sleeping sickness, I recommend that at least £500 a year be spent in that direction.
• No. 86.
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48. In view of the Royal Society's decision not to send any more investigators to Uganda, it is improbable that the fine laboratory, which has only just been com- pleted, will ever be put to its original use. The expenditure of £2,900 in this direction is, therefore, to be deplored. While the decision of the scientists, at home, is probably a sound one, it cannot be doubted that great scope still exists for further investigation of the etiology of the disease. Its extraordinary virulence in Uganda, as compared with the progress in other parts of Africa, would point to the existence here of some particularly favourable conditions, concerning which further know- ledge is very necessary. Our acquaintance with the life-history of the tsetse fly is still very vague, and further enquiries in that direction would doubtless gradually elicit valuable information concerning the stage at which the insect might most effectually be attacked. We know already that the fly cannot thrive in the absence Necessity of certain conditions as to shade and water, but it is not unlikely that further for further investigation may make us acquainted with certain birds and other creatures that scientific prey on tsetses, and whose help might be encouraged. The discovery of a thera- research. peutic cure can, doubtless, be made as well in a European laboratory as out here, but a reliable study of its effect can hardly be made without experiments on consider- able numbers of patients. I would urge, therefore, that there be no relaxation of scientific enquiry at the hands of experts, and while we can only do our best in Uganda to prevent the further local spread of this appalling disease,the permanent removal of the scourge can only be effected by bacteriological research of a higher order than can be carried on by a medical staff in Uganda not specially qualified for that branch of work.
49. While we hope that, by carrying out the measures recommended in the foregoing paragraphs, sleeping sickness may gradually cease to afflict the people of this country, any rapid decrease in the number of its victims must not be expected. The external signs by which the disease can be diagnosed usually do not appear for many months, and sometimes for years, after the infection has been contracted, and we do not know how many seemingly healthy persons are doomed. A deplorable case has just come to light where a European, who left Uganda three years ago, has lately developed in Ceylon the characteristic signs of trypanosomiasis. In spite Immediate of the measures which we now propose to take for the segregation of the sick and reduction the protection of the healthy, a heavy death-roll must still be expected for two or of death- three years to come. But though we cannot hope to do much for those who are be
rate not to already infected, and whose sole chance lies in the discovery of a curative agent, expected. there seems reason to believe that, by energetic action, taken now, we may save thousands in the future.
50. I append an estimate of the expenditure that will be entailed in carrying out the measures recommended, and I trust that the total, though high, will not be considered excessive. The whole future of this fine country is concerned in the carly removal of the terrible scourge that has ravaged its population during the past five years, and I sumbit that the time has arrived for coping with the situation on a comprehensive and adequate scale. Half-measures will have little or no lasting effect, and the expenditure of a few thousand pounds in strenuous endeavours, at the present moment, may save the country untold sums in the future.
51. The estimate for 1907-1908 is shown in the accompanying statement in comparison with the total of expenditure approved, for medical services during the current year. We hope to have at least three of the most important of the segregation camps in full operations before the close of this financial Pro-
year. vision already exists in the current estimates for the pay of the medical officers, but special appropriations will be required for the equipment of the camps, pay of native staff, and for the maintenance of about 600 destitute patients up to the 31st of March next. £600 will probably suffice to face these expenses, and the amount can, I think, be met out of general savings on the appropriations for the medical service during 1906-1907.
52. I earnestly hope that the Lords of the Treasury will be pleased to consider the proposed expenditure in the light of a special and exceptional necessity, and that they will provide the required funds without reducing in any degree the Imperial aid, for the rapid development of the country's resources, which Uganda so urgently needs.
53. Doctor Hodges, the Officer in Charge of the Sleeping Sickness Investiga- tions, has his whole heart in his work, and I have every confidence in his ability to carry out efficiently and economically the measures indicated in this despatch.
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