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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

19

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23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

9387

(No. 92.)

10389

16

No. 12.

CEYLON.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(Received 14th March, 1914.)

The Queen's Cottage, Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon, 21st February, 1014. [Published as No. 4 in Appendix VIII. to [Cd. 7796], April, 1915.]

No. 13.

MINUTES OF AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THE TROPICAL DISEASES RESEARCH FUND, HELD AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE ON THE 19TH MARCH, AT 4.90 P.M.

PRESENT:

MR. BRAD (in the Chair),

SIR THOMAS BARLOW,

SIR HAVELOCK CHARLES,

MR. KEITH (Secretary).

1. THE minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the 11th February were approved.

2. Professor Nuttall's proposals for research work to be carried out by his assistant, Dr. E. Hindle, in Uganda and Nyasaland, were laid before the Committee. The Committee were of opinion that the work proposed was of sufficient importance to justify the grant of £300 from the fund, especially in view of the fact that Mr. P. A. Molteno, M.P., had undertaken to give a contribution of an equivalent sum for the carrying on of the work of the Quick Laboratory.

3. During the discussion of this item on the agenda, Mr. Grindle, as Head of the West Indian Department, was present.

The memorandumt on the Trinidad Lepers Ordinance was carefully considered Sir by the Committee. They agreed that great stress should be laid upon the desira- bility of securing a suitable island on which lepers might be segregated. Havelock Charles pointed out that the adoption of this plan was greatly preferable a continuous to the plan of shutting up lepers in an institution which involved restraint and undesirable interference with personal liberty. On the other hand, by placing them on an island the lepers were enabled to enjoy as much freedom as was compatible with the interests of the rest of the community. It was recognized that there might be difficulty in providing a suitable island, but the Committee agreed to recommend that, in view of the importance of the use of an island, every effort should be made to secure one for the purpose.

As regards the question of children, the Committee agreed that it was impor- tant that healthy children should not be allowed to live in close contact with lepers, as the disease was likely to be conveyed by the use of the same utensils and bedding. On the other hand it was considered undesirable that the parents should be abso- lutely deprived of their children, and the Committee agreed that the best course to adopt was to allow the children to visit their parents, but to secure that they lived on a part of the island apart from the lepers.

The Committee agreed that it was not possible to make any recommendation as to dealing with the question of marriage, and that no good purpose would be served by any attempt to render marriages illegal.

Of the minor points raised in the minute of the Surgeon-General, the Com- mittee expressed opinion that there was no objection to a penalty being imposed upon a leper who failed or refused to attend at any place where a District Medical Officer ordered him to attend, on the understanding, of course, that the provision as

* No. 9.

† No. 10.

17

to penalties would be administered in a reasonable spirit. They also agreed that the distinction made between articles purchased and articles received from a leper in an asylum in Section 22 of the Ordinance was not a valid one and that the same pro- As regards vision should be applied to articles received as to articles purchased.

the question of the making of rules for the management and discipline of the insti- tution the Committee were of opinion that it was important to place the responsi- bility for the making of suitable rules on the Surgeon-General, and, while they did not wish to express any opinion as to the form in which this should be brought about, they considered it important that the responsibility should be made to rest with the Surgeon-General, so that if the working of the rules were unsatisfactory he should not be in a position to disclaim responsibility on the ground that the rules had been made without due regard to his opinion.

As regards the intercourse of the public with lepers the Committee agreed that it was not necessary to forbid visits to the institution in which the lepers were housed. Sir Havelock Charles pointed out that in Bombay, for example, it was possible to visit such institutions, and that these visits had the result of encouraging contributions from the public towards the welfare of the lepers. Of course, the intercourse of the public with lepers must be under supervision, but it need not and should not be absolutely prohibited. As regards the question of notification, the Committee reported that it could legitimately be held to be a part of the duty of a Medical Officer to notify cases of disease without being paid a special fee, but they were willing to recommend that a small payment might be made rather than let a Medical Offeer stiffer from a sense of grievance on so unimportant a point.

The Committee agreed generally that the Ordinance was suitable for the pur- pose, but they desired to represent the great importance of the provision of a suitable island, and to call attention to the success which had attended the adoption of the policy of segregation on an island both in Hawaii and also in South Africa, at Robben Island.

3946

No. 14.

EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.

(No. 253.)

Downing Street, 19th March, 1914.

SIR,

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 22 of the 6th of January, respecting a contribution of £200 by the East Africa Protec torate to the Tropical Diseases Research Fund, and to refer you to my despatch, No. 236 of the 13th of March,t paragraph 5, Expenditure, heading 19, which deals with the provision of this sum in the Estimates for 1914-15.

I have, &c.,

10764

No. 15.

L. HARCOURT.

BRITISH SOLOMON ISLANDS PROTECTORATE. REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1913 ON THE PREVENTION OF MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASES.

(Received 23rd March, 1914.)

[Published as No. 4 in Appendix I. to [Cd. 7796], April; 1915.]

* No. 8.

D

+ No. 126 in African No. 996.