Mesopotamia inquiries : report on Basrah base / Andrew Balfour [and others].

Date:
1916
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mesopotamia inquiries : report on Basrah base / Andrew Balfour [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/22 page 4
    by the medical and other services in matters relating to the health of the troops at the base, or of the circumstances which hitherto have prevented action being taken in the matters on which we make suggestions. Such questions, so far as it 1s neces- sary for the Committee to discuss them, may, we think, usefully be deferred to a later report dealing with the conditions of the force as a whole. 16. The observations are arranged as follows :— 1. (Paragraphs 17 to 21).—Strengthening of the sanitary service. 2. (Paragraphs 22 to 29).—Water supply. 3. (Paragraphs 30 to 48).—Sanitary requirements and notes (camps, hutments and billets ; disposal of excreta, refuse and urine ; disinfec- tion, civil sanitation ; food supply, etc., etc). 4. (Paragraphs 49 to 54).—Hospital. 5. (Paragraphs 56 to 57).—Points regarding special diseases (malaria, dysen- tery, etc.). 6. (Paragraphs 58 to 59).—Other medical matters (hospital records, la- boratory requirements, etc.). : 7. (Paragraphs 60 to 61).—General summary of recommendations. STRENGTHENING OF THE SANITARY SERVICE. 17. We begin with this, as we became convinced in the course of our inspec- tions that the most urgent measure for preventing sickness in the Basrah base is to secure closer and more effective attention to elementary principles and minutial of sanitation throughout the area and that, owing to the changes in personnel and to the altered conditions of the base the existing system has become quite inadequate to cope even with the requirements of the areas about Ashar and Basrah, still less with those of Magill and Tanooma. | : 18. We.found that changes in regard to the sanitary section and other matters were being considered by the Assistant Director of Medical Services, Line of Com- munication, and we have conferred on the question also with the Director, Medical Services, and others. We understand that at present the administrative proposals are taking shape as follows :— | (a) In place of a single (No. 10) Sanitary Section for the base, with a few supplementary sanitary officers elsewhere, to divide the base area into three and appoint three separate sanitary officers, each responsible to the Assistant Director of Medical Services (Base) through the Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services (Sanitary), giving his whole time to the duty, and having a staff of British and Indian orderlies and of sweepers, etc., sufficient in number for the require- ments of the area and adjusted as the demands of the several areas change. The areas under consideration are (1) south of Ashar Creek, together with Tanooma ; (2) north of Ashar Creek, to Robert Creek; (3) Magill and Makina. (6) To obtain a section of a London Sanitary Company (1 officer and about 20 trained men) from Egypt, so that the administration may be strengthened by the addition of British inspectors already used to. similar work and to dealing with native labour in Alexandria or elsewhere. These men ‘should be invaluable as supervisors, for special inspectors of food shops, soda-water and ice-factories, and for water inspection. Probably it would he best, while distributing the men in the different areas as a kind of loan to the local sanitary Sections, to retain the unit as a whole for administrative purposes. For these they would remain under their officer commanding who in addition would be posted for special sanitary work at the base. We are informed that, following our recommendations to the Director of Medical Services on this matter, application has already been made to the War Office for the necessary instruction. «
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3