RESOLUTION

                                                                        ON

            THE REPORT ON THE RANGOON LUNATIC ASYLUM

                                   For the Triennium 1903—05.

Extract from the Proceedings of the Government of Burma,—No. 9K.6, dated the 31st May 1906.

READ—

The Report on the Rangoon Lunatic Asylum for the Triennium 1903—05.

RESOLUTION.—The report was due in the Secretariat on the 15th of March
and was punctually received.

2. The number of lunatics to be provided for continues to increase. On the
17th and 18th December 1905 470 lunatics were confined in the asylum, whereas
the number for whom adequate accommodation is provided is 427 only. The
degree of overcrowding is, therefore, acute, and the Lieutenant-Governor fully
realizes the importance of providing without delay a larger asylum. Plans and
estimates for a new asylum, to be located in the neighbourhood of Mandalay, are
under preparation, and construction will be commenced as soon as possible. The
site has been selected, and much care has been taken to obtain the fullest infor-
mation with a view to the establishment of the new asylum on the lines which
experience has shown to be most suitable. In the meantime, such steps as are
possible have been taken to provide for the proper supervision and care of the
inhabitants of the present asylum. An increase of the subordinate staff, which
was recommended by the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals, was sanctioned
in 1905. The appointment of a Commissioned Medical Officer as whole-time
Superintended was sanctioned in 1903, but an officer was not immediately avail-
able. Major Bell, I.M.S., has been in whole-time charge of the asylum since
October 1904.

3. The health of the lunatics confined in the asylum during the period under
review was not wholly satisfactory. In 1904 the annual death rate, calculated on
the daily average population, amounted to 11 73, and the health of the inmates of
the asylum during that year was reported to have been very unsatisfactory. In
1905 the daily average sick rate was even higher than in 1904, but the Lieutenant-
Governor is glad to notice that the death rate showed a marked improvement.
The percentage of lunatics cured, calculated on the number of admissions, was
lower in the period under review than in the three years 1900—-02, and the results
obtained in 1905 were in this respect less satisfactory than those of either of the
two preceding years. The Lieutenant-Governor has no doubt that the want of
adequate accommodation is a serious hindrance to the proper treatment of the
inmates of the asylum and leads to insanitary conditions. An improvement in
these matters may reasonably be looked for on the completion of a larger and
more suitable institution. In the meantime, any proposals which the Inspector-
General may be in a position to recommend with regard to the outdoor treatment