Fifty years ago | Expert’s survey of ENT diseases in Male Island
This archival piece from 1976 details a medical survey conducted by Dr. S. Kameswaran on Male Island in the Maldives. The report highlights the prevalence of ENT diseases among the local population due to occupational hazards and environmental factors.
Why it matters
It provides a historical perspective on public health development and international medical cooperation in the Maldives.
Madras, October 11: Fishing is their primary occupation and practically every one of them swims and dives. Their staple food is fish and rice. Occupational hazards, vitamin-deficient food and the inclement weather conditions add up to make the 1,25,000 people living in the Maldivian Archipelago “extremely prone to upper respiratory tract infections”. “I have never seen so many cases of chronic tonsillitis, adenoiditis and mastoiditis”, says Dr. S. Kameswaran, Director of the Institute of Otorhino-laryngology, Madras Medical College, who had been there on a short WHO assignment.
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