Annual report on the Medical Department, Brunei.

  • Brunei. Medical Department.
Date:
[1931]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the Medical Department, Brunei. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/30 (page 7)
    (6) Housing and Town Planning Kuala Belait is the place that is developing rapidly. Here the Sanitary Board control the erection of new buildings. A definite town development plan has been fixed and plans for all new buildings of an approved nature have to be submitted before erection. The same laws apply to Brunei but no great development has occurred in the year. It cannot be too strongly stressed how necessary these arrange¬ ments are, as already a tendency to overcrowding has appeared in Brunei Town with the consequent increase in the Tuberculosis rate. (7) Food in Relation to Health and Disease Inspection and control is carried out by the Sanitary Board Inspector. The vegetable market is in a good position. The Pork and Buffalo slaughter houses are over waterways and certain im¬ provements are hoped for in these. In Kuala Belait, the Sanitary Board are making efforts in this direction also, as part of the Town planning scheme. IV.—MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE The infant mortality rate is still extremely high. Three hundred and sixty-four Infants under one year of age died. As the number born in 1931 was 1,147 and the total deaths 947, the infant mortality rate is 31.73 per cent and the percentage of infant deaths to total deaths is 38.4 per cent. Both these figures show an increase over those of 1930. The seriousness of this problem has been stressed previously but so far nothing has been done. The difficulty is to obtain a suitable midwife and child welfare Nurse, a Malay for preference, and to overcome the distrust of and conversatism against any innovation. V.—HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES Each Rubber Estate has its own small hospital in charge of a dresser and the British Malayan Petroleum Company have a small hospital at Kuala Belait. There is only one Government hospital in the State, situated in Brunei Town. This contains one ward of 18 beds, an Operating theatre a Dispensary and a Laboratory. There are, in addition, three separate rooms which are used for infectious cases or mental cases under observation. The equipment is meagre, the laboratory requires several addi¬ tions as there exists no facility for Bacteriological work. The surgical equipment is good for the size of the Hospital. It is hoped that in time Brunei will possess a really well equipped hospital, as it should.