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I wish to respond to the letter from Felix Konotey-Ahulu on Malaria
control in the current issue of the BMJ. My experience supports the
view of Dr Konotey-Ahulu that environmental methods of malaria control
in Africa are neglected by current practitioners.
My interest in this subject stems from my years working as a surgeon
and health manager with the mining company in Zambia. The mines were
established mainly in the 1920s and 1930s in a region of Northern
Rhodesia (now of course Zambia) along the border with Zaire. The
region was notorious for high mortality from malaria.
The most influential of the early investors was Alfred Chester Beatty.
He recognised that a healthy and well fed labour force was in his own
interests and commissioned the Ross Institute in 1929 to advise on and
supervise public health measures principally for the control of
malaria. These measures mainly depended on environmental control. The
work carried out under the direction of Malcolm Watson were strikingly
successful such that malaria ceased to pose a significant problem to
the work force and their families. The work started in 1929 and
continued up to the period when I worked for the mining company
(1975-1986).
I became interested in this effort and in particular the reasons that
drove Beatty to make this investment. Accordingly when I retired in
2002 I enrolled in the MSc course in the History of Science,
Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester. My
dissertation studied the history of malaria control on the Copperbelt
of Northern Rhodesia. The full text can be found at www.doctors.net.uk/DocStore/DSView/Album.aspx?folderid=36999
Reference
Buchanan D J Why did the investors in the Roan Antelope Mine in
Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) decide in 1929 to make an investment in
Public Health when setting up the mine?
A dissertation submitted to the University of Manchester . A part
requirement for the degree of Master of Science September 2005
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
27 May 2009
Douglas J Buchanan
Non Exec Director
Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS FT, Clatterbridge Road, Bebington Wirral CH63 4JY
Partnership in Health care measures is what is needed in
Africa.Foreign charity, medical and pharmaceutical chemicals heap more
problems in the long run. "Do not give them fish, give them a rod to catch
the fish". Public health measures have to be home grown to be acceptable
and owned by the indigenous people.
Response to Felix Konotey-Ahulu
I wish to respond to the letter from Felix Konotey-Ahulu on Malaria
control in the current issue of the BMJ. My experience supports the
view of Dr Konotey-Ahulu that environmental methods of malaria control
in Africa are neglected by current practitioners.
My interest in this subject stems from my years working as a surgeon
and health manager with the mining company in Zambia. The mines were
established mainly in the 1920s and 1930s in a region of Northern
Rhodesia (now of course Zambia) along the border with Zaire. The
region was notorious for high mortality from malaria.
The most influential of the early investors was Alfred Chester Beatty.
He recognised that a healthy and well fed labour force was in his own
interests and commissioned the Ross Institute in 1929 to advise on and
supervise public health measures principally for the control of
malaria. These measures mainly depended on environmental control. The
work carried out under the direction of Malcolm Watson were strikingly
successful such that malaria ceased to pose a significant problem to
the work force and their families. The work started in 1929 and
continued up to the period when I worked for the mining company
(1975-1986).
I became interested in this effort and in particular the reasons that
drove Beatty to make this investment. Accordingly when I retired in
2002 I enrolled in the MSc course in the History of Science,
Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester. My
dissertation studied the history of malaria control on the Copperbelt
of Northern Rhodesia. The full text can be found at
www.doctors.net.uk/DocStore/DSView/Album.aspx?folderid=36999
Reference
Buchanan D J Why did the investors in the Roan Antelope Mine in
Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) decide in 1929 to make an investment in
Public Health when setting up the mine?
A dissertation submitted to the University of Manchester . A part
requirement for the degree of Master of Science September 2005
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests