PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
TLC.O. 885
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
90
COMPARATIVE DEGREE OF INFECTION BETWEEN ADULTS AND CHILDREN
Under 10 YEARS.
Adults.
Locality.
Examined.
Male. Female.
BURARAK88
Total
****
Examined.
Total
Infected.
Per cent.
Infection.
285-28
Children under 10 years.
Examined.
Male. Female.
༄༄།
HYAmined.
Total
Infected.
Per cent.
Infection.
Cantries Town
60 184 184
48.9
10 17
27
7
25.8
Castries Rural
66 180
198 188
67.8
11
14
14
50.0
Babonneau and Gros Islet
14
86
49
85-7
2
50-0
Cul-de-Sac Valley
19
81
44
84.0
66.0.
(n) Crown Lands
9
22
19
86.1
(b) Ferrands ...
8
12
100.0
(c) Soucis
47
85
82
92-6
(d) Forestière
11
80
90-0
Roseau Valley and beyond
18
22
40
90.0
Total
249
410 669
472
71.6
46
45
91
40
44.0
8135
Total cases examined: 750.
Total cases infected: 512,
Percentage of infection: 68:3.
No. 74.
WINDWARD ISLANDS: GRENADA.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 19th February, 1915.) [Answered by No. 77.]
(Grenada. No. 24.)
*
42-8 60-0
Grenada, 28th January, 1915. SIR,
WITH reference to your despatch, Miscellaneous, of 20th November, 1914,* I have the honour to submit herewith a report, dated 31st December, 1914, by Dr. Angus Macdonald, on the work of the International Health Commission in Grenada for the quarter ending 31st December, 1914.
2. As in West Africa, and as in the Bahamas, the disposal of excreta is the most difficult problem with which, apparently, this Colony has to deal. During the short period I have been in the Windward Islands I have sufficient evidence to prove that this is one of the chief causes of the unsatisfactory quality of the In paragraph 34 of water, and the chief cause of the numerous dysenteric cases. the report of 31st October, 1914, should be added that human fæces is often deposited in the numerous streams.
It is my
3. I have not as yet had an opportunity of visiting the schools. intention to give paragraphs 37, 39, 43, 44, and 45 my special attention.
4. With reference to paragraph 52, wherever negroes reside the conditions are insanitary; they seem to revel in being huddled together in houses from which At the same time I am bound to say every means of ventilation has been closed. that, from my twenty-eight years' experience in the tropics, a change for the better is perceptible; the progress may be slow, but the advance in the civilized sanitary mode of living is taking place.
Education is a better weapon to combat with it than legislation. The negro is easier to lead than to drive.
5. The scheme, as put forward in paragraph 62, is the idea of a practical and energetic man, who can rely, in carrying out the work of the ankylostomiasis campaign, not only on the support of every Medical Officer in the Colony, but also on that of the head of the Executive.
* No. 47.
I have, &c.,
G. B. HADDON-SMITH,
Governor.
SIB,
01
Enclosure in No. 74.
International Health Commission, Grenada, 31st December, 1914.
I HAVE the honour to present, for the consideration of the Governor, a report on the work of the International Health Commission (ankylostomiasis campaign) in Grenada for the quarter ending 31st December, 1914.
This report reproduces the monthly reports laid before the Advisory Com- mittee for the months September,* October, November, contains the statistical schedule of actual work done, and restates the position of affairs to the end of the calendar year.
REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, 1914.
PURSUING the course of investigation detailed in the report for the month of September, I have visited fifty-one elementary schools in the island, and have left those of Carriacou and Petit Martinique for later consideration, as these islands will have to be treated in one separate group.
Specific report on the general sanitary conditions and surroundings of the schools, as suggested by the Advisory Committee, has been made, and is placed as an appendixt to this report, while general consideration of school conditions is briefly discussed in the body of the report.
My visits to schools were, in almost all cases, made unannounced; casual visits were paid to the homes and gardens of the people in different parts; and large estates were systematically studied.
It was my privilege to meet the clergy, estate owners, and others throughout the island, and I must here express my thanks for the courtesy and hospitality and kindness, as well as for a varied fund of information, freely extended by all.
The intimate contact obtained with the people and children throughout the island: the talks that resulted in school, by the wayside, and in the home, have, there is reason to believe, aroused real interest and enthusiasm in the inauguration of the campaign.
This report is concerned with the consideration of :-
1. The natural conditions of the island.
2. The conditions favouring the occurrence of ankylostomiasis.
3. A campaign of elimination of ankylostomiasis.
I. The Natural Conditions of the Island.
Lying in the latitude of 12° N., Grenada enjoys a mean temperature of about 80° Fahr. The range of temperature is narrow; the island is treated to fairly regular breezes and a generous supply of showers; so that living is agreeable, and extremes of heat are rarely experienced.
The geological structure of the island is volcanic, and the various formations give definite direction to the shape of the land and to the natural flora and cultiva- A deep red clay more or less covers the central and windward tions of man. (eastern) side of the island, and the land on that side sweeps in long broad-backed ridges to the sea, clothed in dense growth of cacao and nutmeg, with rare patches of pasture. On the western, the leeward side, the hills fall abruptly to the sea in steep ridges bounding narrow valleys; clay occurs in patches of varying area in these valleys, on which is found the same dense cacao growth of the windward side; but in the main the subsoil on the west is of " tiff" or cinder beds and agglomerate of varied composition growing corn and grass and mixed crops. In the alluvial valleys cane is grown, but, especially on the south-west, the driest corner of the
bush."
In various areas the clay is widely strewn island, much land is still in with boulders, a formation which somewhat modifies, for certain purposes, the availability of the clay subsoil.
On both these main formations flood water runs rapidly off; the island in practically all parts is well supplied with springs and rivers, and swampy areas are few.
The water supply of a fair proportion of the population is directly from rivers and springs, and the nature of the use made of the soil and the rivers implies abundant opportunities of water pollution.
There are various water supply systems throughout the island, by which the local authorities deliver water to collected communities, of the purity of which I have yet made no estimation.
* For the report for September see No. 39.
Not transmitted to Colonial Office.
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