No. 647, dated 5th March 1891.
From—G. FARRELL, Esquire, C. B., Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals, Punjab,
To—The Offg. Chief Secretary to Government, Punjab.
I HAVE the honor to forward the annual statements of the 17 Volun
tart Venereal Hospitals in the Punjab for 1890.
2. Under the orders of the Government of India in the Home Depart-
me n t , No . 3 / 1 7 0 S a n i t a r y , d a t e d 7 t h J u n e 1 8 9 0 , a c o n s i d e r a b l e c h a n g e wa s ma d e
in the form of these returns, and the letter-press and the catechism have been
entirely dispensed with.
3. Under these circumstances no comparison can be made with refer-
ence to the admission of troops to hospital, as the statements only provide for
such statistics as regards women.
4. Judging from the returns, these hospitals have not been open
at all cantonments throughout the year, and very few show admissions for
every month of the year. I find that during 1890, 431 women were admitted
into hospital. This compares favourably with 1889, when only 252
admissions were recorded, showing an increase for 1890 of 179 patients.
There were no admissions at Delhi and Murree; only 2 at Kasauli, 4 at
Ferozepore and 5 at Jullundur and Mooltan. The largest number of
admissions were at Meean Meer, 91, a very considerable improvement on the
previous year, when there were only 17. Pesháwar and Nowshera follow
next, with 74 patients each. Four hundred and eighteen women were discharged.
cured, 1 died and 23 remained under treatment at the close of the year. The
daily average number of women treated in all the 17 hospitals was 1.18. The
largest daily average at any one hospital was at Meean Meer where it was 5.12.
Siálkot had an average of 3.03, Pesháwar of 2.33, and Nowshera, Dagshai and
Dalhousie an average of less than 2 each.
5. It can hardly be said that these hospitals are much resorted to by
the class for whom they are intended.
6. Turning to the expenditure statements, I find that this amounted
to Rs. 11,756-4-2 for all the hospitals, compared with 9,851-14-9 in
1889, showing an increase for 1890 of Rs. 1,901-5-5, which is chiefly due
to increased expenditure at Meean Meer, Siálkot and Delhi. At Meean
Meer all the heads of expenditure have increased, but there were 91
admissions and a daily average of 5 under treatment against 17 admissions
and a daily average of 0.58 under treatment in 1889. At Siálkot the
miscellaneous expenses were Rs. 563 last year against Rs. 155 in 1889.
The reason of this is not so clear, for there were 30 admissions and an average
of 2.74 patients daily under treatment in 1889 against 12 admissions and a
daily average of 3.03 under treatment last year. It is not clear why an
expenditure of Rs. 486 has been incurred at Delhi for miscellaneous charges
last year when there was not a single patient treated. At Murree, where there
was also no patient treated, there has beea no expenditure under this head.
7.
I find that Government supported wholly or in part 7 out of the
17 hospitals, contributing Rs. 2,974-12-0, and that the balance, Rs. 8,781-8-2,
was contributed by the various Cantonment Funds.
The total expenditure represents a little more than Rs. 27 for each
admission.
8. It is too soon to form any opinion as to the value of these
hospitals. As a charitable effort they are not without merit, and if they were
largely resorted to they might be productive of some good.
No opinion can be given as to their influence, if any, in checking the
prevalence of venereal disease.
Punjab Government Press, Lahore—12-3-91—270