§ Mr. REESasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he has any official information showing that the diminution of deaths from malaria necessarily follows upon improved sanitation, or whether it is still doubtful if improved sanitation materially lessens mortality from malaria; and whether the Secretary of State has any figures in relation to those matters which he can lay before the House?
The MASTER of ELIBANKThe Secretary of State sees no reason to doubt the conclusion of medical authorities in India that rational sanitary improvements by raising the public health tend to increase immunity against malaria, and that particular measures such as drainage, clearing of sites, and distribution of quinine directly reduce sickness and mortality in epidemics. But I am unable to give reliable figures as the effect is often obscured by imperfect mortality returns and other circumstances.