496 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



wise function, though on a smaller scale, and in 1936 dealt with 

 12,567 new cases; field work of this kind and village treatment is 

 difficult in view of the four months' rainy season. There is a leper 

 village at Fort Lamy, and sleeping sickness villages are established 

 by the equipe system for the treatment of serious cases who are 

 compulsorily segregated. Medical missions are also active. 



The population in 1 936 was about three and a half million. In 1 936 

 there were 5 hospitals, 52 dispensaries, some of which were mobile 

 units, and 46 health centres; 66,736 cases were admitted to hospital 

 and 2,751,103 consultations given. The staff included 80 doctors, 

 5 chemists, 9 hygienistes, 6 midwives, and 46 European and 644 native 

 (male) nurses. The medical budget was about 20 million francs for 



1936- 



In the Cameroons and Togoland the French medical services are 

 more extensive than in French Equatorial or parts of French West 

 Africa, though similarly organized (Cameroons (French) 1936; 

 Togoland (French) 1936). In the Cameroons in 1936 the staff 

 of the official Service de Sante included 74 Europeans, of whom 

 45 were qualified doctors and the rest chemists, dispensers, and 

 sanitary agents. The trained auxiliary African staff, mostly 

 infirmiers, numbered 667. Good hospitals are established in each 

 regional headquarters, with centres medicaux in the district head- 

 quarters, and dispensaries in charge of infirmiers in the sub- 

 divisions. The numbers in 1936 were as follows: i European 

 and 4 native hospitals, 3 centres medicaux for Europeans and 18 

 for natives, and 38 dispensaries, of which 1 1 are provided with 

 beds. The total number of beds at these institutions is 54 for 

 Europeans and 2,064 ^o^ natives. Maternity and child welfare 

 has been a special feature of the work; in 1936 there were 15 

 maternity centres and 19 dispensaries for infant welfare, with a 

 total together of 792 beds. In addition, in 1936, there were special 

 establishments under the department including 26 leper colonies, 

 13 centres for contagious diseases, and 10 sleeping sickness centres. 



Sleeping sickness, which is regarded as the most important 

 disease in the territory, is dealt with by equipes de prospection^ similar 

 to those described for French West Africa. In 1936 there were six 

 equipes permanently at work followed by 1 2 detachments for treat- 

 ment. The staff of these is additional to the figures given above. 



