SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE INFANT MORTALITY IN KHULNA DISTRICT. By SARASI LAL SARKAR, Civil Surgeon. A peculiarity that may be noted in the case of the Khulna District is that, though it is far less malarious than other districts in Bengal, such as Burdwan, Jessore, Hooghly, Nadia, etc., and, as a rule, has a smaller adult mortality than those districts, yet, from the point of view of infant mortality, it takes a higher place than In this respect Khulna resembles Bankura most. district. As regards infant mortality, Khulna is sometimes as high as third in the list, and same of the thanas of Khulna district, such as Assasuni, showed the highest infant mortality in the whole of Bengal. The fact that infant mortality is pretty high in this district will be seen from Chart A. The comparative infant mortality in the different thanas will be seen from the graphic curves for the last two years shown in Chart B. The more or less uniform rise and fall of these curves show that the infant mortality is proceeding from causes which remain fairly constant in the different areas. I have made careful and personal investigations into the causes of the abnormal infant
?
44
in this district in the in the several thanas and
of my villages, where infant mortality appeared to be high. The principal cause of the high infant, mortality in this district appears to me to be due to the fact that the milk supply is very scarce throughout the district. After the cyclone this aspect of the question became very prominent. Chart D shows the extent of the reported loss of cattle due to the cyclone. A reference to the Charts B and D will show that there is a corresponding increase in the rate of infant mortality in the places where the cattle mortality has been marked. Leaving aside this temporary effect of the cyclone, cattle mortality in this district is keeping high from year to year from the following
mortality tours
[Feb. 1921.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE. course
fauses:?
The
of this district
greater part
remains
generally under water during the rainy season. During this season the cattle mortality is very high. I have been told that a large number of loans are taken from the rural co-operative (;redit societies solely for the purpose of buying cattle. People go to the neighbouring districts with this money to buy cattle, but for some
reason or other a great many of these die on their way to this district. It is needless to say that the mortality prevailing amongst the cattle in all these ways affect greatly the agricultural as well as the economic condition of the district. There are more than one cause for the abnormal cattle mortality in this district during the rainy season. During this season the cattle are kept by the people in a very bad way, on a bit' of comparatively high land, at a somewhat' higher level than the flood water, where the cattle have to remain about knee-deep in the mud. People generally do not know how to take proper care of their cattle. This huddling up of cattle together gives a chance to the infectious diseases to spread rapidly. But the most important cause of cattle mortality during this season is that the fodder for the cattle becomes very scarce during this season. Infant o
cn
Oq .p..
o
Mortality
dry
season
CHART A,
in Kliulna Khulna for four years from 1915?19.
w O
o
o O
the
cattle have some fields during the rainy season the principally on tall grass and plants growing on moist land. These tell greatly of the cattle, diarrhoea and upon the health dysentery prevail, and this condition of the health of the cattle tells indirectly on the health of the people, especially the infant population of the locality. In many of the villages I have visited on tour, the people have complained that they have no pasture lands for their cattle. People of some portions of this district have complained to me that they had formerly extensive pasture land, but to their great disadvantage they have been deprived of the same by the zemindars. Now, in this state of things, it will be easily understood that the amount and the kind of cattle fodder present in a part of the district, while affecting the health and the mortality of the cattle of the part, will also have a marked bearing on the infant mortality of the part. From my rough observations made during the tours, it appeared that there were facts which suggest the correctness of the theory. Durba of grass appeared to be absent in many parts the district where infant mortality appeared to be marked. An expert cultivator showed me ei^ht different varieties of fodder grass of the district and told me their Bengali names, and also informed me that they have difference in their fodder value. The Agriculture Department has very kindly taken up the study of these fodders in the district of Khulna at my request, with the view of finding out its bearing on the question of infant mortality. Meanwhile, observations from different parts of this province may throw some light on the question in which the benign Government, as well as the people, are taking so much interest at present, whether the varieties and the distribution of cattle fodder have marked bearing on the figures of infant mortality in the different localities of the province as my observations would appear to indicate.
During
to graze upon, but cattle have to live
o 0
?
5
y ?
o
O O
m ?t-r
?U4-1 Ml
t
^
Cn O o
o O
O
CHART? B. Khulna Infant Mortality in Thanas.of Thanas^of Kliulna
District. division. Bagerhat Sub division-
Sadar Sub-division.
ootteq curve i9is. BLACK
:
i)
dotted curve I9ia BLACK ? 1919
270
1919.
257 20C
I0O
:
c
?
44
in this district in the in the several thanas and
of my villages, where infant mortality appeared to be high. The principal cause of the high infant, mortality in this district appears to me to be due to the fact that the milk supply is very scarce throughout the district. After the cyclone this aspect of the question became very prominent. Chart D shows the extent of the reported loss of cattle due to the cyclone. A reference to the Charts B and D will show that there is a corresponding increase in the rate of infant mortality in the places where the cattle mortality has been marked. Leaving aside this temporary effect of the cyclone, cattle mortality in this district is keeping high from year to year from the following
mortality tours
[Feb. 1921.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE. course
fauses:?
The
of this district
greater part
remains
generally under water during the rainy season. During this season the cattle mortality is very high. I have been told that a large number of loans are taken from the rural co-operative (;redit societies solely for the purpose of buying cattle. People go to the neighbouring districts with this money to buy cattle, but for some
reason or other a great many of these die on their way to this district. It is needless to say that the mortality prevailing amongst the cattle in all these ways affect greatly the agricultural as well as the economic condition of the district. There are more than one cause for the abnormal cattle mortality in this district during the rainy season. During this season the cattle are kept by the people in a very bad way, on a bit' of comparatively high land, at a somewhat' higher level than the flood water, where the cattle have to remain about knee-deep in the mud. People generally do not know how to take proper care of their cattle. This huddling up of cattle together gives a chance to the infectious diseases to spread rapidly. But the most important cause of cattle mortality during this season is that the fodder for the cattle becomes very scarce during this season. Infant o
cn
Oq .p..
o
Mortality
dry
season
CHART A,
in Kliulna Khulna for four years from 1915?19.
w O
o
o O
the
cattle have some fields during the rainy season the principally on tall grass and plants growing on moist land. These tell greatly of the cattle, diarrhoea and upon the health dysentery prevail, and this condition of the health of the cattle tells indirectly on the health of the people, especially the infant population of the locality. In many of the villages I have visited on tour, the people have complained that they have no pasture lands for their cattle. People of some portions of this district have complained to me that they had formerly extensive pasture land, but to their great disadvantage they have been deprived of the same by the zemindars. Now, in this state of things, it will be easily understood that the amount and the kind of cattle fodder present in a part of the district, while affecting the health and the mortality of the cattle of the part, will also have a marked bearing on the infant mortality of the part. From my rough observations made during the tours, it appeared that there were facts which suggest the correctness of the theory. Durba of grass appeared to be absent in many parts the district where infant mortality appeared to be marked. An expert cultivator showed me ei^ht different varieties of fodder grass of the district and told me their Bengali names, and also informed me that they have difference in their fodder value. The Agriculture Department has very kindly taken up the study of these fodders in the district of Khulna at my request, with the view of finding out its bearing on the question of infant mortality. Meanwhile, observations from different parts of this province may throw some light on the question in which the benign Government, as well as the people, are taking so much interest at present, whether the varieties and the distribution of cattle fodder have marked bearing on the figures of infant mortality in the different localities of the province as my observations would appear to indicate.
During
to graze upon, but cattle have to live
o 0
?
5
y ?
o
O O
m ?t-r
?U4-1 Ml
t
^
Cn O o
o O
O
CHART? B. Khulna Infant Mortality in Thanas.of Thanas^of Kliulna
District. division. Bagerhat Sub division-
Sadar Sub-division.
ootteq curve i9is. BLACK
:
i)
dotted curve I9ia BLACK ? 1919
270
1919.
257 20C
I0O
:
c
