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D. THE PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATION OF CANTON.
In the 1928 Annual Report of the League of Nations Health Organisation. Eastern Bureau, Singapore-one finds the following:---"An important step towards the Sanitary re-organisation of the Chinese Republic has been the establishment in Nanking by the Nationalist Government of a Bureau of Public Health, attached to the Ministry of the Interior. During the latter part of the year a Ministry of Health was formed with His Excellenev Hsueh Tu-pi as its Head and Dr. J. Heng Liu (the former Medical Superintendent of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital) as Vice-Minister a proof that the technical aspect of the problem of centralising health nețivities in China has not been under-estimated”
An International Advisary Conneil consisting of Sir George Newman Chief Medical Officer- Ministry of Health London--Dr. Victor Heiser-travelling Director, Rockeller Foundation and Dr. Rajehman-Director of the Public Health Section of the League of Nations-has been appointed.
Canton is a Municipality with a President and a Council of Commissioners one of whom is the Commissioner of Public Health. The Commissioners are appointed by the Central Government on the recommendation of Local Authorities,
The Law, relating to Public Health, the Sanitary Regulations, is a very com- prehensive one. It contains 36 chapters and 122 sections. It deals with constitu- tion of a Health Bureau—its jurisdiction. its functions, its sections and its staff
riz.:-
The Health Organisation consists of a Health Bureau with three divisions
I. The Preservation of the Health Department.
II. The Infectious Disease Prevention Department.
III. The Medical Department.
The Health Staff includes:-
The Commissioner
The Secretary.
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The three Sectional Heads.
A number of Sectional Secretaries.
A number of Inspectors
Section 8 states:-"The Commissioner of the Bureau shall supervise the management of the Bureau, the Secretary shall take charge of all important matters, and the Sectional Heads shall take charge in their respective sections, all under the direction of the Commissioner”.
Section 7 states :-"The Commissioner of the Health Bureau, the Secretary, the Sectional Heads, the Sectional Secretaries (with the exception of the Sectional Secretary for the Accounts Office) and the Sectional Assistants shall either be grad- uates from a Medical University, or a Technical College, or a Public Health College.
The posts of Sectional Assistants which have not much to do with Medicine and Public Health may be filled by one or two non-technical men in each section".
Section 10 states :-"The Health Bureau shall be provided with a Health Conn- cil which shall be constituted of a number of well known Chinese and European Doctors and Experts in Civil matters in connection with Health-to be appointed by the Mayor on the recommendation of the Commissioner".
Section 11 states :—"In the interests of the work of the Bureau the Commis- sioner shall convene once a week a meeting of all Sectional Secretaries and all above them in rank to consider all matters of the Bureau, and once a month a meeting of all Sectional Secretaries and all Officers above them and the Heads of all Hospitals and other Institutions to discuss the development of the Bureau”.
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Section 3-gives the duties of the three Departments. The Health Preserva- tion Department is responsible for all Health questions pertaining to:-
(1) Food, Drugs and Water.
(2) Municipal Sanitation including sanitation of streets and sewers, lat- rines, domestic houses, boarding houses, barbers shop, laundries, bathing saloons, markets, abattoirs, factories and public gardens. The Department for the Prevention of Infectious Disease is concerned with :---
(1) The investigation and prevention of Infectious Disease.
(2) The management of the Hospital for Leprosy and other diseases. (3) The isolation of Infectious cases.
(4) Precautions against Plague.
(5) The removal of Corpses to Mortuaries.
(6) The examination of prostitutes.
The Medical Department has charge of the following :—
(1) Registration of Doctors, Dentists, Chinese Medical Practitioners,
Midwives, Apothecaries and Dispensers.
(2) The Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths.
(3) Medical statistics-apart from those of infectious diseases.
(4) Restrictions on private Hospitals and Dispensaries,
(5) The management of "Poor Old Men's Homes".
(6) Blind Asylum and Foundling Institution. (7) Medical treatment and prescriptions
(8) School Hygiene and Propaganda.
With regard to infectious disease there is :-
(1) Compulsory notification.
(2) Power to remove any patient to the isolation hospital.
(3) Provision for the disinfection of corpses and the coffining of the
same and burial
(4) Provision for disinfection and destruction of property.
(5) Provision for prohibition of assemblies.
"When any infectious disease is prevalent in any place outside the City, the Health Bureau have power to enforce at any time the regulations for the examination of infectious disease on board vessels and trains". There are special regulations for these duties".
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With regard to Port Health Work, the regulations provide for:
(1) Quarantine station and anchorage--one at Canton and one
Whampo
(2) Four Port Health Medical Practitioners.
(3) Powers and duties of staff.
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Section 9 states :-"The Bureau shall be provided with the following sec-
tions:-
(1) Health Examination Bureau.
(2) Port Medical Examination.
(3) Municipal Hospitals.
(4) Free Dispensaries.
(5) Lunatic Asylums
(6) Foundling İnstitutions,
(7) Infectious Hospitals
(8) Nursing Homes.
(9) Prostitutes Examination Bureau.
(10) Leprosy Hospitals.
(11) Old Men's Homes.
(12) Blind Asylums
The Canton Sanitary Regulations provide for a complete Health Department under the direction of one Medical Head responsible to the Municipal Council for all mafters connected with the Public Health. Containing 36 Chapters and 422 Sec- tions, this Code may be described as both clear and complete and up-to-date.
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