HH62/1/KIRKCU/31

Transcription

[Page] 30

parishes are Kelton (pop. 3692) and Kirkcudbright (pop. 3476), the
first containing the burgh of Castle-Douglas, the second containing the
Royal Burgh of Kirkcudbright. There are nine considerable villages in
the district, viz. - Crossmichael, Ringford, Rhonehouse, Laurieston,
Twynholm, Borgue, Auchencairn, Dundrennan, Palnackie. The rest
of the population is distributed over farms, which here, as elsewhere in
the county, are practically the sole productive industry.

B. - FARMHOUSES, COTHOUSES, AND VILLAGES.
In this district, as in the others, the sanitary question always
resolves itself into the same thing - the healthy housing of a population
depending for its livelihood on agriculture. Certain general remarks,
applicable equally with the necessary change of instances to all four
districts, I have embodied in the report on the Western District. In
this report I confine myself to the features special to the Southern
District.
First. The large number of villages makes the sanitary condition
of villages a question of primary importance. Already three of them
have had the special attention of the District Committee, but in all of
them the same defects of water and drainage exist in varying degrees.
As to water, quantity as a rule is less to complain of than quality; as
to drainage, what public drains there may exist, are as a rule the patch-
work of generations. Scavenging is as yet hardly anywhere organised.
Second. The cothouses present here much the same features as
elsewhere. But everywhere there are signs of a growing wish to have
them made as good in every sanitary regard as the circumstances allow.

C. - MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT.
The chief difficulty of sanitary and health administration has
hitherto been the unwieldy character of the administrative bodies.
To be effective, public health action must be prompt and continuous -
two conditions not attainable under present arrangements. Thus the
village of Borgue was reported on for drainage and water supply about
six months ago. Certain conditions then reported are still unremoved;
but circumstances are such that the ordinary action of the sanitary
office is ineffective without farther discussion by the District Com-
mittee. Meanwhile an important public institution - the Borgue
Academy - is exposed to further risks from contaminated water, and
the whole case will again become the subject of a special report. It is
obvious that the appointment of a small sub-committee for public health
would here be a great improvement in procedure. Further, it is
important that in epidemics or isolated cases of infectious disease

[Page] 31

originating in defective sanitation, the public should be apprised of the
facts at the earliest possible moment. The educative effect of such
information is enormous. Thus a report, now some months old, dealt
with an outbreak of typhoid in a certain parish, but it has to await a
meeting of the District Committee before it can become public. For
these and such reasons then I propose the following:-
First. That the District Committee appoint a small sub-committee
for purposes of public health.
Second. That the District Committee order special reports on all
the villages in the district that have not already been reported on.
These reports should be sent in month by month, as occasion serves,
to the sub-committee above named, and if this Committee sees fit, the
reports should, in special cases, be made public forthwith. This
procedure would tend to organise public health much more effectively.
Third. That this sub-committee consult with the Public Health
and Sanitary Offices in order to construct a detailed programme of
work for the year.
Fourth. That all public institutions where large numbers of people
are concerned be made the subjects of special reports.
These proposals I make from the standpoint of public health.

II. - INQUIRIES DURING THE YEAR.
The facts above generalised indicate the general inquiries I have
made during the six months I have been in office. A full and system-
atic inspection of premises, water, and the like through the whole
district has been neither possible nor called for. No general question
affecting the whole district has yet been raised.
Of special inquiries I have to record the following, which do not
include several individual visits under the Infectious Diseases (Notifi-
cation) Act:- Examination and report of Borgue Village; examination
of certain farms and premises in connection with an outbreak of scarlet
fever in Borgue Parish; detailed investigation of Balmaghie typhoid
fever cases; inspection of certain farms in connection with scarlet fever
cases in Kelton and Tongland parishes; inspection of four schools, of
several cothouses in various parishes, of Rhonehouse, Crossmichael,
Ringford, Dundrennan, and Auchencairn villages. For a large part of
the time I have visited in company with the Sanitary Inspector, with
a view to determine - first, how much had already been done; and,
second, what parts of the district are most in need of attention. The
result is embodied in the practical proposals I have already made.