§ MR. REESI beg to ask the Undersecretary of State for India whether malarial fever prevails to an abnormal extent in Upper India and parts of Bengal and Bombay; and, if so, whether special steps are being taken by the Government of India to combat this exceptionally severe epidemic.
§ MR. BUCHANANMalarial fever has been exceptionally prevalent in the United Provinces and the Punjab, and to a less extent in Bombay, and has affected both the European and Indian population. The epidemic began in October last and a telegram received this morning reports it to be rapidly declining. To combat the disease quinine has been largely distributed free of charge, travelling dispensaries have been established, and in places much attention has been paid to the destruction of mosquitoes. The causation of the disease is under investigation by a specially trained medical staff.