SANITARY CONDITIONS IN PERU

Abstract

IN SPEAKING of the sanitary conditions in Peru it is difficult to know where to begin. In my case, I had heard of various epidemics existing in this country, but had no definite conception of what the conditions might be or the true nature of the causes. Having been in Panama in the capacity of Chief Sanitary Inspector of the Canal Zone and later as Assistant Chief Health Officer, I had acquired the usual highly critical frame of mind for the presence of mosquitoes and flies, as well as the almost extreme exactions for general cleanliness. Those who are familiar with sanitary conditions of the Canal Zone will appreciate what this means. As a rule, the Pacific Coast steamers call at the first port in the north of Peru, which is the famous port of Paita. The cause of this fame will be discussed later. The harbor of Paita is one of the best on the coast of Peru, and is the only available port for the Department of Piura. It is protected from rough weather and heavy swells by a point of land on the west side of the harbor, which -forms a semi-lunar bay in which vessels, large and small, can at all times lie tranquilly at anchor. Here one gets his first impressions of what sanitary conditions in Peru may be. Paita is a town of about 3,500 inhabitants, the population having remained about the same for the last 20 years. It lies on the beach and has for its background the steep, cliff-like edge of the Paita plateau. The plateau is about 300 feet above sea level and is an arid desert, where rain falls only in limited quantity and at one season of the year, March and April, and sometimes only in appreciable quantity once in a cycle of years. This aridness is characteristic of the entire Peruvian coast. For water, all the valleys are dependent upon the streams and rivers coming down from the melting snows of the mountains. Well water is available in some sections, but in most places towns and. villages are dependent for the water supply upon the rivers, on the banks of which nearly all are located.