Magyar László szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 174-177. (Budapest, 2001)
TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - Máthé-Shires László: Who Lives Where? British Anti-Malaria Policy in Southern-Nigeria (1899-1912)
problems. In Lagos the situation of public health was appalling, the mortality and morbidity rate of both the European and African population was very high mostly because of malaria. 18 It is not exaggeration to say that in 1898 Lagos was the least healthy colony within the empire. 19 The new governor immediately realised the possibility that laid ahead for him in achieving a professional success by improving the reputation of Lagos through sanitation and public health measures. Well before the arrival of Ross to Lagos, MacGregor already set among his priorities the sanitary problems of the colony. He realised that the swamps around Lagos were among the most dangerous obstacles to improved sanitation. The colonial office and Chamberlain eventually provided the support to launch his drainage project. His other initiatives included a hospital and the setting up of a Health Board. In 1899 MacGregor met Ronald Ross in Liverpool before his departure for Lagos. 20 Ross visited Lagos as the head of the LSTM expedition in the following year. MacGregor when learning about the mosquito theory, realised that there actually was a chance to improve the sanitary situation in his colony significantly through draining the swamps in and around Lagos. Once he served his first twelve months 21 , he left for England in 1900 where he met Ronald Ross again and then went to Italy to meet Grassi, the Italian expert on malaria. MacGregor' s knowledge and awareness of malaria placed him among the most important figures who had the possibility and opportunity besides his intention to initiate and eventually carry out an actual combined anti-malaria policy in a tropical environment. It is quite possible that he acquired his experiences during this leave that helped him formulate his own, almost unique anti-malaria policy, rested on the combination of known contemporary methods. Upon returning from Europe, he concentrated his efforts on acquiring information and reliable data on African child mortality by setting up the Commission of Enquiry. He proposed the free distribution of quinine among the local population after the compulsory usage of the drug among Europeans in Lagos. 22 The governor had a definite and argumented opinion on segregation and the possibility of its application in Lagos. In a letter, in response to a circular sent from the CO, he wrote that '(he) humbly dissent from the doctrine that quarters of Europeans be located away from native quarters' and that 'segregation would from a social point of view be a disaster here'. At the end of his letter he went as far as stating that 'it (i.e. segregation) is not possible for Europeans and Natives to live apart in this place'. 23 Together with his Chief Medical Officer, Henry Strachan, MacGregor started a series of public lectures to advance the latest information about malaria. On occasions there were about a thousand people attending his presentations, a num18 The European population had a 71 and 87 per thousand mortality rate in the years of 1899 and 1900. The African population of the town itself was about 33.000 where the annual death rate was around 2.200 out of which about half were children. Joyce R.B., Sir William MacGregor. (London, 1971), 225. 19 This point is suggested by Joyce. On MacGregor's governorship in Lagos, see ibid., 219—299. 20 On the relationship and communication between Ross and MacGregor, see Gibson, Mary E. 'Sir William MacGregor — a frustrated doctor?' , Journal of Medical Biography, 5.3. (Aug 1997), 158—166. 21 The regular system of service included twelve months in tropical region and six months leave. MacGregor's first period ended in 1900. 22 For European quinine usage see MacGregor William, "The administration of quinine in Lagos", in The Journal of Tropical Medicine, January 1, 1902., 7. For the free distribution among native children, see Annual Report Lagos 1902. 23 MacGregor to CO 8 th July 1901, CO 147/55, Public Record Office, London
