5
The respective responsibilities of the board and the district board
in rural areas falling within the limits of the Mining Settlement are
not clearly defined, and the Mines Board of Health claims that the
district board should undertake or subsidize medical and sanitary
measures in these rural areas, which, if neglected, are a menace to the
area directly administered by the former. The district board, however, con-
tributed Rs. 1,000 to be spent through the agency of the Mines Board of
Health in combating epidemic disease in the villages immediately outside
the Mining Settlement. The Mines Board of Health has also undertaken the
work of suppressing epidemic disease within the Asansol and Raniganj
Municipalities, since the municipal boards under their present Act possess
inadequate powers.
The Raniganj Municipality has made a grant of Rs. 125 to the Board for
this work. The Minister for Local Self-Government is glad to find that the
Board's system for the prompt notification of epidemic disease has worked well,
and that such notification has been followed up by vigorous measures to check
the spread of the disease. There were 1,200 cases of cholera, giving an
incidence of 3.64 on the total population, 583 cases ended fatally. The
sterilisation of water supplied and the disinfection of houses and of persons
attending patients received special attention. The incidence rate of vaccina-
tion on population was .225. There were 93 cases with 10 deaths. It is
gratifying to find that the number of primary vaccinations show a substantial
increase on the figures of the previous year; the decrease in secondary
vaccinations is attributed to the fact that the number of persons requiring
re-vaccination in a well-protected area continually diminishes. The infantile
mortality rate (163 per mille) is high, but nevertheless considerably less than
the provincial rate (over 200 per mille).
The Board has paid considerable attention to the investigation of con-
ditions conducive to malaria, and—an important corollary—the utility of its
measures for the destruction of the larvæ of malaria-bearing mosquitoes,
has been accompanied and tested by elaborate enquiries regarding the splenic
index of the settlement; the index is said to have been appreciably reduced.
The Board has induced the Asansol local board to press on with the
construction of six-feet diameter wells in the settlement villages ; the
collieries are said to be fairly well-founded in the matter of water-supply.
The Minister is glad to find that the sanitary staff of the Board has done
useful publicity and educational work on the subject of hygiene in the primary
schools and in the settlement collieries and villages. The Board has done
much valuable work in its difficult campaign against disease. A superficial
examination of its statistics might suggest that in an area enjoying the
services of a comparatively large public health organization, the incidence
of epidemic disease might compare more favourably with the rates for the
province, where work on so intensive a scale is still impossible. Such
a criticism would be erroneous in its failure to observe that in an area,
where an enormous industrial population with unhygienic customs and habits
is congregated, it is an admirable achievement which enables the infantile
mortality to be kept at a rate much below the provincial figure and the
incidence of the more common epidemic diseases to be kept approximatety
at the same level as obtains in Bengal as a whole.
10. Local bodies and public health.—The attitude of local bodies
towards public health problems is dealt with in the general review of their
administration. It may, however, be mentioned that much has been done in
the past two years to induce both district boards and municipalities to
employ sanitary officers, and a skeleton public health organization has at
length been created for rural areas. The appointment of health officers has
enabled more effective measures to be taken for the suppression of
cholera and the sanitation of melas and fairs. The Khulna district health
officer has already won the confidence of his board by the high
quality of his work, and he
has done valuable
service in
testing and checking the correctness of the vital statistics.
The