Triennial report on the hospitals and dispensaries in Burma.

  • Burma.
Date:
[1919]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Triennial report on the hospitals and dispensaries in Burma. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    RESOLUTION ON THE TRIENNIAL REPORT ON HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES IN BURMA FOR THE YEARS 1917 TO 1919. Extracts from the Proceedings of the Government of Burma in the General Department,—No. 2X.-9 dated the 19th November 1920. Read— Triennial Report on the Hospitals and Dispensaries for the years 1917 to 1919. ♦ Resolution.—The period under review was one of great difficulty for all departments of Government, and the Medical Department suffered almost more severely than any other from insufficiency of staff. A number of small hospitals and dispensaries had to be closed temporarily, and as new construction was at a standstill, the number of institutions actually declined from 282 to 269. It is, however, satisfactory to note that in spite of this the number of patients treated rose by nearly 200,000, and although there was a slight set-back in the last year of the triennium there is no reason to be disappointed with the result. The Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to see that the proportion of Burmans among the patients, though still unduly small, continues to rise. As the number of trained Burmese medical practitioners increases it is to be hoped that confidence in Western medical science will take firmer root among the people of the country in general. The system of travelling dispensaries, which the Inspector-General of Civil H ospitals advocates, should undoubtedly help to popularize proper treatment among the rural population, and the Local Government will be ready to consider proposals for its extension as the staff which it requires becomes available. 2. The Lieutenant-Governor has read with interest Colonel Entrican’s remarks on the subject of private charity towards hospitals and of discrimination of patients who can afford to pay for treatment. The whole subject of hospital finance, which now suffers from lack of system in this Province, is under consideration, and it is hoped that the question will be put on a definite basis in the near future, the upkeep of hospitals being divided, in rough proportion to the classes of patients treated, among Provincial and Local Funds, aided by subscriptions from the public. The purposes for which subscriptions could be used have been so strictly limited in the past that there was not much inducement to liberality, but His Honour trusts that when their scope is extended and the question is put more clearly before the public, the amount at present received from this source will be very largely increased. He desires to express his gratitude to those members of the public wrho have assisted in this respect. 3. The importance of Research work, on which Colonel Entrican lays stress, can hardly be overestimated. The Bacteriological Laboratory attached to the Pasteur Institute only came into existence after the beginning of the war, and both this and the Rangoon General Hospital have suffered severely from lack of an adequate staff for nearly the whole of the last six years. Now that most of the medical officers who proceeded on military duty have returned or may, it is reasonable to anticipate, return soon, and new recruits to the higher branches of the service should be once more obtainable, it is legitimate to hope that progress in research may be actively resumed, with valuable results to the health and welfare of the community. The steady' increase in the number of patients'treated for rabies at the Pasteur Institute shows how necessary it was, and