Medical report / British Honduras.

  • British Honduras. Medical Department
Date:
[1951]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Medical report / British Honduras. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Rates— Birth rate per 1,000 of population. 39.40 41.71 Crude death rate per 1,000 of population .. .. 11.04 11.50 Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births .. .. 106.5 94.6 Neonatal death rate per 1,000 live births .. .. 39.1 34.77 Still birth rate per 100 live births . 4.02 3.13 61.05% of all deaths were certified by medical practitioners, as against 56% in 1950. VI.—PREVENTATIVE MEASURES. Hygiene and Sanitation: No new health measures were introduced during the year. The Health Department con¬ tinues to be responsible for scavenging in Belize and the district towns. There are signs, how¬ ever, that the City Council of Belize and the Town Boards of district towns are awakening to their civic responsibilities, and it is hoped that before long they will assume responsibility for scavenging and cleaning the streets of their own towns. There is still no sewerage system in Belize. Night soil is dumped into three open canals which run through the town, and eventually finds its way to the sea. As the level of water in these canals is subject to tidal variations, the flow is variable and much nuisance is caused through the sight and smell of the obnoxious contents of these canals. Assuming that the installation of a water carried sewage system is at present ruled out be¬ cause of its cost, there appears to be two alternative methods of improving the present situation: (i) by surface collection from fixed stations, or (ii) by hastening the flow in the canals with a forced flow through a paddle-wheel and ramp. Of the two, the second appears the more practical and cheaper and easier to maintain. The effectiveness of this method has already been demonstrated by a model. Mosquito Control: The Insect Control Programme was continued throughout the year. Sufficient material is on hand to enable the programme to be continued through 1952 and 1953. The value of this programme is established. Comment on its effectiveness in reducing malaria incidence has already been made in Sec¬ tion IV Public Health, Communicable Diseases. Enteric Control; In spite of the extensive inoculation programme carried out in 1950, a further incidence of 64 cases occurred (66 in 1950) with 15 deaths (6 in 1950). The sporadic nature of the cases made tracing extremely difficult. Until more extensive laboratory facilities are available making stool testing on a large scale possible, it will be difficult to prevent this annual incidence of en¬ teric fever. Water Supplies: No wells were improved or dug during the year. VII.—HOSPITALS. The total bed strength of the six hospitals is 218 or 3.1 beds for 1,000 of population. There were 6,823 admissions during the year as compared with 6,910 in 1950 made up as follows:— Belize Hospital. 3,960 Stann Creek Hospital .. .. .. .. .. 1,171 Punta Gorda Hospital .. .. .. .. 626 Cayo Hospital. 490 Corozal Hospital .. .. .. .. .. 326 Orange Walk Hospital 250 Maternity Ward, Belize Hospital: There were 554 deliveries with 4 maternal deaths as compared with 496 deliveries and 5 deaths in the previous year.
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