Report on the state of public health in Burma.

Date:
[1937]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the state of public health in Burma. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    46/212 (page 38)
    Water Supplies.—As in towns the main sources are wells, tanks and rivers. The water problem in some rural areas is acute. In the Delta, for example, there is an abundance of water, but unfor¬ tunately most of it is undrinkable. In the dry zone there is every year during the hot weather an acute shortage so much so that in some places people may have to go many miles to obtain their domestic supplies. The domestic disintegration this causes can well be imagined. Districts particularly afflicted in this way are Meiktila, Yamethin and Pakokku. In Magwe, except for those villages situated around the Irrawaddy River and its contributory streams, there is invariably a shortage of1 water. In Myingyan the situation in Kyaukpadaung, the headquarters of the township is typical. This is a growing town with a railway station and easy communications with both Yenangyaung and Nyaung-U. The only source of drinking water is from a tank and this means that in every summer there is an acute scarcity of water which has to be brought from as far as eight miles away. This difficulty of meeting supplies along with the fact that in so many instances the sources are either grossly polluted to start off with, as in the case of a river, or pollution is allowed as in the case of improperly protected tanks and wells, is one of the causes of the rapid spread of water borne epidemic diseases such as cholera. The year under report saw no major development in the improvement of water supplies in rural areas though in a few instances minor improvements were effected, of which we may note the construction of a drinking water tank in Thingangyi Village in Labutta Township and the fencing in •of tanks in Kokko, Yindi and Thingangyi Villages in the same township. Conservancy.—The disposal of nightsoil and street rubbish and refuse in rural areas continues to be highly unsatisfactory. In by far the majority cf places, in response to the calls of nature, people have recourse to the neighbouring jungle. This in itself is not insanitary, but the trouble is that too often no attempt is made to cover up the excreta and no attention is paid as to the selection of the village site in regard to drinking water supplies. This means that the spread of diseases such as hookworm is facilitated and in time the contamination of the local water supply is bound to take place. The problem of the disposal of street rubbish and refuse is also difficult. In those villages where the village headman is conscientious and is a man of personality and influence, it is not difficult to persuade the villagers to keep their surroundings' clean, but in all too many instances, through sheer ignorance, no attempt is made in this connection. Commenting on this, the District Health Officer, Meiktila, writes, “ The system of sanitation in most of the villages still needs much improvement. Only during epidemics do the villagers make an attempt to clean up their villages and this they do as if for the benefit of the public health staff and not for themselves.” The District Health Officer, Magwe, reports that there