Page 421 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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Anti-Malarial Control.—The taking over of the Anti-Malarial work more or less coincided
with the retirement on medical grounds of the Supervisor and the subsequent departure on
long leave of his assistant. To fill the gap, Mr. Hanvey was side-tracked from general Health
duties and much credit is due to him as with little initiation into local conditions, he succeeded
in improving on last year's figures.

The established methods of fogging and wet spraying with Gcmmexanc and D.D.T.
insecticides, oiling and otherwise dealing with stagnant water collections, weeding and canalising
garden irrigation channels as far as possible and the extensive use of indigenous larvivorus fish
were continued. The results were encouraging in that the number of reported eases of Malaria
was about half of last year’s total but there was no reduction in the number of breeding places.
This problem will have to be tackled more energetically and by legislation if necessary, in order
to bring home to the general public and garden owners especially, their responsibility in ensuring
that no breeding takes place on private premises and properties. The Anti-Malarial staff is
not in a position to undertake this work in full but will assist by supervision and instruction.
At present control measures are restricted mainly to the towns and their environs with the
Bahrain Petroleum Company operating in certain villages. A more comprehensive scheme on
an Island-wide basis will be necessary to achieve the complete eradication of malaria from our
midst and given the necessary funds and effort, this goal should not be unattainable.

Port and Quarantine.—The number of people entering Bahrain, their places of entry and
the number arriving without valid certificates of vaccination were recorded as follows :—
Number without
Number of Place of entry. vaccination
arrivals certificates.
43,408 Manama Jetty 6,343
1,720 Muharraq Jetty 261
114 Sitra Port Nil
2,274 P.C.L. Sitra Jetty Nil
17,620 Muharraq Airport 818

Total 65,136 7,422

Manama Jetty continued to take the heaviest traffic and also showed the highest number
of travellers arriving without vaccination certificates. These travellers constitute a source of
danger as most of them come from neighbouring territories where condition of Health and
Sanitation are still in a backward state. Quarantine measures in respect of them are at present
restricted to carrying out the required vaccinations but more stringent measures would be
necessary in the event of the outbreak of an epidemic disease in the area. A careful watch has,
therefore, to be maintained to forestall such a contingency.
The number of arrivals at Muharraq Jetty was very small in comparison but quite a large
percentage of them did not have the necessary certificates and moreover inspection arrangements
there are not as well laid out as at Manama. If it were possible it would simplify matters
to direct this traffic through the latter port.
The two remaining places of entry into the Islands by sea—Sitra Port and the P.C.L. Jetty
at Sitra—did not present any difficulty. The former deals mainly with a small volume of
traffic from the United Kingdom and the latter with Company employees going to and from
Qatar.

Control at Muharraq Airport has been greatly facilitated by the construction of the new
Health Office there but will not be complete until arrangements have been made to segregate
arriving passengers from the general public until they have been cleared by the various Govern­
ment Departments concerned and the reverse procedure applied in the case of departing
passengers.
No quarantinablc disease occurred during the year and it was not found necessary to place
any person, vessel or aircraft in Quarantine. No case of Cholera or Plague has been reported
since 1926, and the last epidemic of Smallpox took place in 1948-1949. Since then this disease
has gradually disappeared from the Islands and no case has been reported during the past two

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