Sanitary organization in Malta in 1743 : part 1

Abstract

In a paper read to the British Medical Association (Malta Branch) on the 10th March, 1966, Mr. P. Cassar describes how sanitary precautions had been taken in Malta in the eighteenth century following the bubonic plague, which took place in Messina in 1743. The events at Messina had aroused serious concern in Malta and alerted the Grand Master and Council to take precautions to counteract the menace of plague infiltration. The precautions adopted in the eighteenth century by the more advanced maritime powers of the Mediterranean against the introduction of plague were based on the idea that these diseases were propagated by personal contact or by contaminated cargoes. These measures were all carefully observed in Malta as the Order of St. John had brought the sanitary system of the Island as close as possible to European standards. To this effect, The Grand Master and Council set up a special Commission of Knights to invigilate, with the Ordinary High Commissioner, on the public health. This paper will be concluded in the next issue.