NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
241
propaganda carried out. In 1932, the Director of Public Health, Madras,
undertook to have coloured posters prepared on the subject of rabies for
distribution by means of the Health Department throughout the rural areas
of the Presidency in which there are roughly 34,000 villages. Posters were
distributed freely by the Health Staff during their tours, and lectures on
rabies and antirabic treatment were also encouraged. In October 1936.
at the request of the Government of Mysore, special propaganda work in
connection with rabies was carried out for 16 days at the Mysore Dasara
Exhibition which was visited by about 1,50,000 people from all over the
Mysore State as well as from other parts of India.
14. A large number of persons bitten by rabid animals are seeking treat-
ment now-a-days owing to the increased facilities provided by the multi-
plication of treatment centres and owing also to the propaganda carried
out by the Public Health Department of the Government of Madras in
collaboration with the Pasteur Institute of Southern India.
vii) THE KING EDWARD VII MEMORIAL PASTEUR INSTITUTE AND MEDICAL
RESEARCH INSTITUTE, SHILLONG.
The King Edward VII Memorial Pasteur Institute and Medical Research
Institute, Shillong, owes its inception to a proposal from the Assam
Branch of the Indian Tea Association in 1906 to build an institute for
antirabic treatment in Assam. In 1909 a committee was appointed to
consider the site and plans for the proposed institute. In 1910 it was
decided that part of the Eastern Bengal and Assam King Edward VII
Memorial Fund should be devoted to the construction of the Institute
provided it was also made a centre for teaching medical research and
for study of local diseases. The foundation stone was laid by the Hon'ble
Sir Archdale Earle, K.C.I.E., Chief Commissioner of Assam on the 4th
November, 1915, and the Institute was opened on 5th January 1917.
The Pasteur Institute now functions—
(a) as a general clinic laboratory for the Province,
(b) as a centre for antirabic treatment for the Province,
(c) as a laboratory for the manufacture of cholera and typhoid
vaccines, and cholera-dysentery bacteriophage,
(d) as a centre for research on cholera, dysentery, malaria and
other diseases of public health importance, and
(e) as a training centre for workers in the field of malaria and other
diseases in the field.
Antirabic treatment.—About 28,300 patients have up to date been
treated in the Institute and its out-centres with antirabic vaccine prepared
by the Institute. In 1928 the policy of decentralisation of treatment was
adopted, and out-centres were established in various places in the Pro-
vince, the treatment at these centres being the same as that adopted at
the Institute. There are at present 21 Government and 39 private
centres.
Vaccine Department.—In 1918 large scale manufacture of vaccines.
was undertaken, beginning with
cholera and
prophylactic influenza
P
242
vaccines. Vaccine preparation was discontinued in 1922 but was resumed
in 1928 with the manufacture of cholera and T. A. B. vaccines.
Practically all the research work on Bacteriophage was carried out in
this Institute and the manufacture of that serum is still an important
item in its manufacturing activities.
Medical Research.—In the Institute's first year an outbreak of typhoid
fever in Shillong was investigated and T. A. B. vaccine was used on a
large scale. As Captain (the late Lt.Colonel) Knowles pointed out in
the annual report of that year that was perhaps the first attempt to in-
oculate a civilian Indian population against enteric on a large scale.
In 1918 a special ward was opened for the treatment of kala-azar
patients, in which in 1923-24 Major (now Lt.-Colonel) H. E. Shortt,
I.M.S. and Lt.-Colonel E. D. W. Greig, I.M.S., proved the efficacy of
Urea Stibamine (Brahmachari). This opened the way for the great
c
1
d
later in otary to the
Pasteur Institute, was formed and undertook the study of the epidemiology
of cholera, the investigation of malaria in the province, and, in collabo-
ration with Dr Margaret Balfour C.B.E., research in the anaemias of
pregnancy in the Tea Estates.
243
CHAPTER IX.
Medico-legal Work and Imperial Serological Department.
In this work Chemistry and Serology are exercised in the service of
the law. It is undertaken by:—
four Chemical Examiners, viz.,
1. Chemical Examiner, Bengal, Calcutta, for Assam, Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa,
2. Chemical Examiner, United Provinces, Agra, for United Pro-
vinces and Central Provinces.
3. Chemical Examiner, Punjab, Lahore/Murree, for the Punjab
and North-West Frontier Province,
4. Chemical Examiner, Madras, for Madras Presidency;
two Chemical Analysers, viz.,
1. Chemical Analyser, Bombay, for Bombay Presidency,
2. Chemical Analyser, Karachi, for Sind, and
one Imperial Serologist, Calcutta, for the whole of India (and also Burma).
2. The Chemical Examiners and Analysers are experts in procedures
which go much beyond the limits of Chemistry; such as toxicology,
microscopy, photography and examination under ultra violet and infra red
lights. They establish the presence of organic and inorganic poisons in
food, fodder and viscera; detect blood on clothing, weapons and objects
in connection with deeds of violence, maiming of animals and allied
offences; determine the nature of explosives used or intended for illegal
purposes; examine animal tissue and fabric microscopically; trace origin
of ink on faded documents and examine the latter under ultra violet
light; and test samples for the excise, customs and other important
departments of the State, in the course of their essential work. In their
spare time they teach scientific methods of detecting crime to police
officers and examine samples in the interest of Public Health or even for
the benefit of commercial enterprises.
3. The Chemical Examiners and Chemical Analysers receive the
material for examination as 'exhibits' from the police, magistrates, medical
officers and officers of excise, customs and other important departments
of the State, of their province or provinces in British India. They are
also called upon by small Indian States to help them in their medico-
legal work. In the summary of medico-legal work given at the end of
this account a small percentage of cases and articles analysed for the
Indian States is included in the total for each Chemical Examiner and
Chemical Analyser.
4. The Imperial Serologist determines by serological means the origin
of the blood, human or animal ; causes of bleeding, injury, menstruation
or parturition; group of the blood in term of 0 (I JANSKY, IV MOSS), A
(II JANSKY & MOSS), B (III JANSKY & MOSS) & AB (IV JANSKY,
Contributed by Major S. D. S. Greval, I. M. S
244
I MOSS). He also deals with tissues of the body other than blood for
the determination of their origin. In his spare time he undertakes labora-
tory examinations of blood for clinical purposes; runs a blood transfusion
service for the hospitals in Calcutta; and teaches Serology and Immuno-
logy to the various classes in the School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta,
and in the All-India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta.
5. The Imperial Serologist receives exhibits from the Chemical Exami-
ners and Chemical Analysers of British India and Burma. He also
receives a small percentage of exhibits from large Indian States which
employ Chemical Examiners of their own. In the summary of work given
at the end of this account a small percentage of cases and articles
analysed for the Indian States is included in the total for the Imperial
Serologist.
6. Centralization of the determination of the origin of blood in the
Imperial Serologist's laboratory serves two useful purposes: (1) it provides
a double check on the mere presence of a bloodstain and (2) keeps the
standard of medico-legal evidence, regarding its origin, uniform in criminal
cases involving grave consequences.
7. The accompanying table summarises the medico-legal work done by
the aforesaid seven officers. Not an inconsiderable amount of original
work is also done by the officers engaged in medico-legal work.
Table showing summary of work done by Chemical Examiners, Chemical Analysers and the Imperial
Serologist during 1936.
Designation of
Officers.
Medico-legal investigations.
Human poisoning. Animal poisoning.
Stains.
Miscellaneous.
Total.
General analysis
and other work.
Cases. Articles. Cases. Articles. Cases. Articles. Cases. Articles. Cases. Articles. Cases. Articles.
1. Chemical Exami-
ner, Bengal,
Calcutta.
984
1,769
118
170
1,242
3,547
3
298
2,347
5,784
..
1,963
2. Chemical Exami-
ner, U. P., Agra.
412
1,351
20
50 1,037
3,169
8
72
1,477
4,642
1,453
2,424
3. Chemical Exami-
ner, Punjab,
Lahore/Murree.
1,088
5,241
51
231
1,870
4,488
12
15
3,021
9,975
1,324
2,688
4. Chemical Exami-
ner, Madras.
363
2,090
15
67
953
5,051
67
333
1,398
7,541
203
203
5. Chemical Analyser,
Bombay.
655
1,688
41
231
533
2,398
26
99
1,255
4,416
..
5,317
6. Chemical Analyser,
Sind, Karachi.
100
34
..
..
276
855
9
89
385
1,290
..
643
Total for whole of
India.
3,602 12,485
245
749
5,911* 19,508*
125
906
9,883 33,648
2,980 13,238
7. Imperial Serologist
- Calcutta:
..
..
..
....
4,747*** 15,062**
..
..
..
..
14,924
17
,901
(Wassermann and blood grouping tests).
(Total cases of general work other than medicolegal work).
* Medico-legal cases and articles referred to the Imperial Serologist by the. Chemical Examiners and Chemical Analysers are parts of
these totals,excluding cases and articles from Burma.
** Includes 487 articles from Burma.
*** Includes 326 cases from Burma.
245
246
CHAPTER X.
Pharmacy and Drugs Control.
1. METHODS OF CONTROL.
The report of the Drugs Enquiry Committee (1930-31) drew attention
to the ineffectiveness of existing legislation to control the drug industry and
to prevent the sale of impure, adulterated and misbranded pharmaceutical
products.
2. Mere adulteration of drugs is not, by itself, prohibited throughout
British India by any enactment. Apart from the commission of the
offence of cheating, adulteration which renders the drug 'noxious' or
lessens the efficacy' or 'changes its operation' alone is controlled by the
Indian Penal Code. Nor is the sale of a drug of insufficient strength or
improper standard punishable otherwise than on the basis of misrepre-
sentation and fraud. These expressions are vague and are of inconclusive
import. The baneful results of adulteration or defective strength of drugs
may be slow and gradual in making themselves evident. The non-
existence of fixed standards or methods of analysis, the absence of any
precise definition of adulteration, the difficulty of proof and the fact that
intention or knowledge is of the essence of these offences, as well as of
cheating, complicate the situation and render the provisions ineffective
in actual practice. The offences are non-cognizable and no particular
trained staff or well-equipped organization or machinery is entrusted with
the special duty of keeping vigilant watch over cases of infringements of
law and bringing the guilty to book. In penalizing false marks and false
trade descriptions, the Indian Merchandise Marks Act and the Sea Customs
Act merely touch the fringe of the problem of misbranding which is hydra-
headed. Strict proof of difference in the nature or quality of the goods
or the falsity of the description is often beset with impediments
the provisions have, therefore, naturally remained practically inoperative.
The Cantonments Act is also of limited scope and efficacy. Its provisions
are equally vague and inadequate and are subject to similar infirmities as
those of the Indian Penal Code. The Indian Sale of Goods Act, 1930,
which is merely concerned with obligations of a civil nature and the
other Acts already referred to are wholly inefficacious in securing foods
and drugs of the opposite standard of strength, purity and quality.
3. A close study of the conclusions arrived at irresistibly points to
the pressing need for immediate improvement of the situation in regard
to the profession of pharmacy in India and to the manufacture, sale and
import of drugs included in the British Pharmacopoeia as well as of
those which are 'known and approved'. As described by some of the
witnesses, the situation is chaotic in the extreme and calls for stringent
measures to cope with it urgently.
4. The propriety of limiting freedom, in the interests of the public
at large, by subjecting it to necessary control cannot be gainsaid. The
claim for special and exceptional measures for strict control over the
so called 'drugs of addiction' or habit-forming drugs as Indian hemp and
248
9. Since the publication of the report of the Committee the constitu
-
tional position in India has altered by the introduction of the Government
of India Act, 1935. The responsibility for the control of the manufacture,
storage and sale of drugs and medicines and for the education and
registration of pharmacists and compounders now rests primarily with
provincial Governments. Any effective steps to implement the recom
-
mendations of the Committee must therefore be taken by the provinces.
10. The Government of India in September 1937 introduced a Bill in
the Legislative Assembly to regulate the import into British India of drugs
and medicines. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill reads
as follows :—
"The Government of India have for some time past following the
report of the Drugs Enquiry Committee been considering, in
consultation with local Governments, the question of imple-
menting the recommendations made by the Committee for
controlling the import, manufacture and sale of drugs and
medicines in India. The recommendations are based on a
vast volume of evidence, both oral and written, collected by
the Committee during its extensive tour in the country, and
they have received widespread support in India. Govern
-
ment has been pressed in the Legislature, by commercial
bodies, and in the public press of India without distinction of
party to implement the recommendations of the Committee.
In addition, the question was debated in the Council of State,
in September, 1935. The subject is one which is primarily
the concern of provincial Governments, and Central legisla
-
tion can only deal with imports. Certain recommendations,
for instance, those relating to the manufacture, storage and
sale of drugs, education and control of pharmacists, are
essentially for provincial Governments to deal with. The
Bill excludes such matters."
•
11. The Government of India established in 1937 a Drugs Control
Laboratory which in accordance with the limitation of the Government
of India Act can undertake such work as research, standardisation of
methods, and the testing of those substances for which the provincial
Governments are unable to make arrangements at their own laboratories,
e.g., organo-metallic compounds, vaccines, sera, toxins, anti-toxins and
antigens. The Laboratory will, it is expected, finally have four sections :
—
(a) Bioassay Section,
(b) Pharmaceutical Section,
(c) Sera and Vaccinés Section, and
(d) Vitamins Section,
and its functions will be :
(1) To do research work, to standardise methods of analysis and tests
with due regard to climatic and other conditions prevailing in different
249
parts of India, and where necessary to hold standards, in connection with
the following therapeutic substances which cannot adequately be tested
by chemical means:—
(a) Organo metallic compounds.
(b) Gland products.
(c)Substances commonly known as vaccines, sera, toxins, anti
-
toxins and antigens.
(d) Vitamin products.
(2) To undertake the testing of certain organo-metallic compounds,
and other substances which cannot be undertaken in provincial laboratories
and in accordance with a schedule to be approved by the Government of
India.
(3) To give special training in biochemical and bioassay methods to
qualified analysts.
(4) To examine and to give expert opinion on the therapeutic sub
-
stances submitted by provincial governments.
(5) To issue periodically bulletins of the progress of its activities, and
of information which may be valuable, to provincial laboratories and
manufacturers.
(6) To undertake analytical examinations for the assistance of manu
-
facturers, for which a prescribed fee will be charged, on the understand
-
ing that under no circumstances may any report be used for advertising
purposes.
12. The Bioassay and Pharmaceutical Sections have already been
established at Calcutta, while the Sera and Vaccines Sections will be
formed at the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, and the Vitamins
Section at the Nutrition Laboratories, Coonoor, as soon as the necessary
preliminary investigations have been completed. The present location of
the various sections of the Drugs Control Laboratory is a temporary one
and must remain undetermined until more experience is gained of the
quality and quantity of work which it will be called upon to carry out.
13. Control of the manufacture and sale of drugs (chemical and
biological products used for medicinal purposes) as well as of the profes
-
sion of pharmacy are matters which must be dealt with by provincial
governments, several of whom already have the matter under serious
consideration. As recommended by the Drugs Enquiry Committee a com
-
prehensive Pharmacy Act should enable pharmacists to exercise a control
over their own profession by the formation of a provincial Pharmaceuti
-
cal Council who would
—
1. Control the education, examination and registration of pharma
-
cists and compounders.
2. Have power to issue diplomas and licenses to practice, to
pharmacists and compounders.
3. Exercise disciplinary powers over registered pharmacists and
compounders.
250
4. Inspect licensed chemists' shops, manufacturing chemists, etc.,
by means of an inspecting staff of trained pharmacist
whose reports should be dealt with by the Council and issued
in the form of recommendations to the local authority con
-
cerned.
The Pharmaceutical Council would be financed by
—
1. Examination fees,
2. Registration and licensing fees, and
3. Government grant, but this should be recouped by licensing fees
of shops and premises.
Government through local authorities, i.e ., municipal boards, etc., should
undertake the following responsibilities
—
1. Licensing of chemists' shops, drug manufacturers and dealers in
patent and proprietary medicines.
2. Collection of license fees, of which not less than two-thirds might
be credited to Government for the maintenance of th
e
Pharmaceutical Council.
Chemists, drug shops and manufacturing concerns should be required to
conform to regulations to be framed under the legislation on the subject
and to those relating to the Poisons Act and Excise regulations. Action
in regard to offences or misdemeanours should be dealt with by the police
and local authority.
14. Since writing these notes the Select Committee of the Central
Legislative Assembly has considered the Bill referred to in paragraph 10
above and it has suggested that an enquiry should be made from the
provinces whether they would agree to a comprehensive legislation by
the Centre embracing such matters as are allocated to the provincial
power of legislation in respect of manufacture, distribution and sale of
drugs and medicines or whether they would themselves undertake the
necessary legislation. Further progress in the matter will depend on the
nature of replies to be received from the Provinces.
Pharmacists.
While a few European trained pharmacists are employed by private
firms, the practice of pharmacy throughout India is mainly conducted by
compounders, who receive only an elementary training in Government
or private hospitals. That the accepted standard of preliminary education
is a very low one and the course of training inadequate is borne out by
the following table :—
Table showing particulars regarding Compounders.
Province.
Standard of Preliminary
Education.
Duration
of
Training.
Place of Training.
Examining Body.
Scales of
Pay.
Rs.
Madras .
.
. IV Form
.
.
.
9 months
. All City hospitals, District
headquarters hospitals
and hospitals in charge of
Civil Surgeons.
Secretary to the Commis-
sioner for Government
Examinations.
28—1/2—40
Bombay .
.
. VI Standard of an Anglo-
Vernacular School.
6 months to
1 year.
Government hospitals and
grant-in-aid dispensaries.
Civil Surgeons and other
Medical Officers in
charge of Government
hospitals.
25—5/2—70
Bengal .
.
. Matriculation
.
.
2 years
. Medical Schools at Calcutta,
Chittagong, Dacca, Burd-
wan and Mymensingh.
Governing Body of the
Bengal State Medical
Faculty.
30—2/2—40
Medical Mission Hospitals
at Ranaghat, Kalna,
Krishnagar and Kalim-
pong.
United Provinces
. VIII Standard of an
Anglo-Vernacular High
School.
10 months
. Allahabad, Benares
Lucknow, Agra, Meerut
and Bareilly.
..
Punjab, and Delhi . Anglo-Vernacular Middle
School Examination.
15 months
. Medical School, Amritsar . Board of Examiners, Me-
dical School, Amritsar.
22—50
Central Provinces . VIII Standard of an
Anglo-Vernacular Middle
School.
1 year .
. Robertson Medical School,
Nagpur.
Committee consisting of
the Superintendent and
two teachers of the
Robertson Medical
School, Nagpur.
20—45
Province.
Standard of Preliminary
Education.
Duration
of
Training.
Place of Training.
Examining Body.
Scales of
Pay.
Rs.
Bihar
.
.
. Matriculation or qualify-
ing examination held
previous to admission.
2 years. .
All Sadar and some other
recognized hospitals, and
Darbhanga Medical
School Hospital, and
Patna Medical College,
Hospital.
..
20—1—40
Assam.
.
.
. Matriculation or VIII
Standard.
2 years. .
Berry-White Medical
School, Dibrugarh.
Committee consisting of
Superintendent and two
teachers of the Berry-
White Medical School,
Dibrugarh.
30—1—40
Orissa.
ex-Madras
Areas.
These areas are governed by the Madras Rules.
ex-Bihar &
Orissa
Areas.
These areas are governed by the late Bihar and Orissa Rules.
Sind
. . .
VI Standard of an Anglo-
Vernacular School.
1 year .
. Government hospitals and
grant-in-aid dispensaries.
Civil Surgeons and Dis-
trict Medical Officers.
25—5/2—70
North-West Frontier
Province.
Matriculation
.
.
6 months to
1 year.
Hospitals under Civil
Surgeons.
Civil Surgeons
.
.
20—50
252