Dr. Morganasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any leprosy survey has been done by medical officers in the West Indies in the last decade; whether any figures are available showing the incidence of leprosy in the different groups of islands; and what steps are being taken by raising the standard of living to eliminate, together with appropriate treatment and preventive measures, this disease from these islands?
§ Mr. George HallYes, Sir. A report by Dr. Cochrane, then Medical Secretary of the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association, on leprosy in the West Indies, was completed in 1935, and Dr. Muir, the present Medical Secretary of the Association, who is now in Trinidad holding a temporary appointment as Medical Superintendent of the Leper Colony, proposes to undertake a further leprosy survey in the West Indian area during his stay there. The matter is also receiving the attention of the Comptroller for Development and Welfare in the West Indies. With regard to the second part of 1545W the Question, a table is appended showing figures for the last year for which details are available. Measures are being taken in all the Colonies concerned to deal with this disease, but it would not be practicable, within the scope of this reply, to give
Incidence of Leprosy in the British West Indies. Colony. New Cases. Total Cases. Population. Bahamas … … 1940 3 17 70,332 Barbados … … 1939 5 63 193,082 Jamaica … … 1939 Not stated 249 1,195,465 Turks and Caicos … … 1938 2 5 5,300 Antigua … … 1940 Not stated 6 36,073 St. Kitts … … 1939 3 59 37,994 Montserrat … … 1939 Not stated Not stated 13,541 Virgin Islands … … 1940 Not stated Not stated 6,135 Trinidad and Tobago … … 1939 77 377 473,455 St. Lucia … … 1939 5 29 69,737 St. Vincent … … 1940 Nil 18 61,421 Grenada … … 1939 Nil 12 90,085 Dominica … … 1940 3 17 52,738 Bermuda … … — Nil Nil 30,814 British Guiana … … 1939 45 565 341,237 British Honduras … … — Not stated Not stated 57,767