231
with cheap and useless drugs. As Chairman of the Drugs Enquiry Com-
mittee, Colonel Chopra made an all-India survey of the condition of drugs
and made representations, to the Government for taking immediate steps
to prevent this menace to public health. It is hoped that the establish-
ment of such a Drugs Control Laboratory by the Government of India will
go a long way in preventing drug adulteration and spurious drug trade
in India.
10. An exhaustive investigation into the aetiology and pathogenesis of
various skin diseases was started by late Colonel Acton and is now being
continued.
Successful methods of treatment have been evolved for a
number of skin conditions which previously resisted all treatment.
The
School is one of the most popular centres for treatment of skin diseases
in Calcutta and patients come to attend the clinic from all parts of India.
11. Besides these, many other enquiries have been carried out and
are still in progress.
In 1934, an "Essay Review" was published,
summarising the whole work of the School from 1920 to 1933.
12. The School is affiliated to Calcutta University but its D. T. M.
..and L. T. M. examinations are controlled by the Faculty of Tropical
Medicine which has been set up under the Government of Bengal.
PO. ALL-INDIA INSTITUTE OF HYGIENE AND PUBLIC HEALTH, CALCUTTA.
Eistory.—Recognising the growing public health conscience amongst
a considerable section of the Indian community the expert hygienists and
research workers had, for some time, advocated the establishment of an
Institution for training and research in India, which should provide per-
sonnel for the progressive public health organisation of Provincial Govern-
ments and Local Bodies. They also recognised that for efficient public
health work, the workers should be trained in this country where they
might learn what could best be done under the climatic, social and financial
conditions peculiar to this country. The credit of giving this idea a
;definite shape belongs to Sir Leonard Rogers. He prepared a scheme for
The establishment of a School of Tropical Medicine in Calcutta and an
Institute of Hygiene in Bombay, where teaching and research in the res-
pective fields could be organised on an all-India basis. In 1920, the
:School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene was opened in Calcutta which
.combined the functions of both the institutions. A Professorship in
Hygiene was established and a course of instruction leading to the Diploma.
Public Health of the Calcutta University was arranged. There were,
;however, obvious limitations to the Scope and outlook of this arrangement,
and this was fully recognised by both Major-General Sir J. D. Graham,
the then Public Health Commissioner with the Government of India, and
Major-General Sir John Megaw, the then Director of the School of Tropical
Medicine. The provision of necessary funds was an insurmountable diffi-
culty in the way of establishing a separate Institute of Hygiene. This
was, however, overcome when the International Health Board of the
Rockefeller Foundation made the munificent offer to build and equip the
Institute, provided the Government of India gave the assurance that they.
would meet the recurring cost of staff and maintenance after the building
was handed over. This offer was accepted by the Government of India.
Contributed by Dr.
M.B., B.S., D.P.H.,
& H., D.B.