92
Section 2.
258. THE HISTORY OF MALARIA PREVENTION SINCE 1908.—
The recent history of malaria prevention in Bombay may be said to date
from the beginning of the enquiry arranged for in consequence of the epidemic
of malaria in 1908. In November of that year the Bombay Government
decided to depute a Special Officer, to investigate the causes of the outbreak
and proposed to associate with him a small Committee representing the chief
public bodies in the City. Early in 1909 Captain A. G. McKendrick, M.B.,
I. M. S., was appointed to conduct the investigation ; and a Committee consisting
of representatives from the Municipal Corporation of Bombay, the Bombay
Port Trust, the City of Bombay Improvement Trust, the G. I. P. Railway
Company and the B. B. & C. I. Railway Company was formed for the purpose
of carrying out any measures which might appear necessary for the immediate
mitigation of malaria.
259. In March 1909 Captain McKendrick, having discovered that
there was a very heavy percentage of malaria-stricken persons in the area
bounded by Church Gate Street on the south, Hornby and Paitan Roads on
the west, the Harbour on the east and Musjid Siding on the north, suggested in
view of this fact and in anticipation of a renewal of the malaria epidemic in
the autumn of 1909 that it would be wise to take immediate steps to treat with
quinine all children in this area affected with enlarged spleen. He therefore
approached the Municipal Commissioner and as a result a scheme was drawn
up and eventually sanctioned by the Corporation, for the employment of two
medical assistants on salaries of Rs. 125 each per mensem and ten compounders
on salaries of Rs. 40 each per mensem, for the purpose of a house to house
distribution of quinine tablets, in the area mentioned above. The distribution
of quinine was commenced in April 1909 and by May 5th Captain McKendrick
reported that 1,212 children were under treatment out of 1,496 found to have
enlarged spleen in the area specified. In addition to the scheme of treatment
Captain McKendrick commenced to train a staff of men for the purpose of
investigating the mosquito conditions of the City. His intention was that
these men would be subsequently employed as supervisors of anti-mosquito
gangs for work in the rains. To meet the cost of the staff necessary for these
different duties and the supply of quinine required, a special budget grant of
Rs. 12,000 was made by the Corporation.
260. In May 1909 Captain McKendrick, I. M. S., was recalled to duty at
the Pasteur Institute of Coonoor.
261. In June 19G9 the Officer appointed to succeed him was requested by
the members of the Malaria Investigation Committee to report at a very early
date what other immediate action, in his opinion, should be taken by the Munici-
pality and the different public bodies represented on the Committee to mitigate
the prevalence of malaria. The memoranda reproduced below were therefore
drawn up and submitted to the respective members of the Committee on July
17th, 1909.
262. At the time when these memoranda were submitted the investigation
of mosquito breeding places was incomplete, but very large numbers of Neocellia
stephensi had been found breeding in the enclosure of the New Dock Works,
in the neighbouring compounds belonging to the Railway Companies, etc., and
in some hundreds of house-wells in the North Port. Experimental mosquito
destruction had also been undertaken in the New Dock enclosure for a period
of some weeks after the onset of the rains ; and it had been found that an
Assistant Surgeon and six to ten men could keep that area practically free
from mosquito larvæ by the use of larvacides.
263. The memoranda submitted to the members of the Malaria Investiga-
tion Committee were as follows :—
Letter Ko. 114, dated 17th July 1909, from Dr. Charles A. Bentley, M.P., D.P.H.,
on Special Duty, Malaria Investigation Committee, Bombay, to the Municipal
Commissioner for the City of Bombay.
" In accordance with the minutes of the Committee Meeting held on
"June 30th, 1909, I Lave the honour to submit for your consideration,