Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 412

(Sick Fund) of the General Federation of Jewish Labour, and by the National Sick Fund, as against 1,000 cases (approx.) in 1933. In a number of settlements over SO per cent, of the inhabitants contracted this disease, and this figure rose to 90 per cent, in several instances (the valley of Hefer, the neighbourhood of Natania, and Kerkur). The. heavy rainfall and the floods that followed during last year's winter season had improved the chances for an outbreak of malaria during the summer of 1935. The Health Department of the Vaad-Leumi took strong measures to combat that danger. A plan of action was worked out and submitted to the Government authorities and to the local councils of the places most affected. Our efforts to co-operate with the Government's Health Department met with no great success, with the exception of certain localities where the Government authorities intensified their activities in the drainage of swamps and in anti-malarial supervision : the district of Haifa, the Valley of Hefer, the vicinity of Natania, etc. Special note must be made of the great work performed by the local councils of Hedera, of the settlements in the Valley of Hefer, in the vicinity of Haifa, and in the Jordan Valley, and in the colonies of the Valley of Sharon. The Vaad Leumi appealed to the Government to participate in the expenses entailed by the anti-malarial campaign. An active part was taken by the Sick Fund of the Labour Federation, the National Sick Fund and their respective doctors. Educational and explanatory work to bring home the dangers of this disease and the means for its prevention was also undertaken. It is therefore noted with great satisfaction that during the first summer months of this year (May and June) no new outbreaks of malaria have been recorded anywhere. 2. A greater number of cases of abdominal typhus were recorded during 1934, especially amongst the new immigrants. Amongst subscribers to the Sick Fund alone the number of cases of abdominal typhus rose from 171 in 1933 to 429 in 1934. A rather serious outbreak was recorded in Haifa during the summer months, but there were also a great number of cases in other towns and colonies during the other months of the year. , The typhus epidemic has assumed rather serious dimensions in different localities of the country during the current summer months (1935). A noteworthy case is the communal settlement of Hulda, where out of a total number of ninety inhabitants, thirty have been stricken down with typhus (three cases of death). An epidemic of dysentery amongst the children in Givat Hasheloshah must also be mentioned. 3. In its anti-malarial activities as well as in its campaign against the spread of enteric diseases, the Government's measures both in the preventive field and in hospital services are far from satisfactory. 412