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91
Infectious Disease (Notification) Extension Act,
1899.—Almost unobserved, and without opposition, a measure
with this title became law in 1899, by which notification of
infectious disease in England and Wales was made compulsory,
as from January 1st, 1900. The passing of the Act
served to remind one of the long and weary struggle to secure
notification in London, commenced in 1881, in which your
Vestry took the leading part. In my first annual report, for
1871, I told of the difficulties which sanitary authorities and
their officers experienced in dealing with infectious diseases,
arising out of their general ignorance of the occurrence of such
cases, excepting when death supervened. Referring to the
then prevailing epidemic of small-pox, I observed—
" Much mischief was done, and a great amount of private loss and
suffering self-inflicted, by concealment of sickness;" and I asked, "Is it
unreasonable to anticipate a time when this state of things will no longer be
possible; when instruction in the principles of sanitary law and public
hygiene will form part of the code of State education ? Whenever that time
arrives, I predict that a law will be passed requiring immediate disclosure of
all cases of infectious disease, and the removal of cases for which the home
resources do not afford either proper lodging or adequate means for obtaining
nursing and nourishment. That publicity—by which I mean information
to the sanitary authority—would be for the general good, no well-informed
person can doubt, and in a matter so vital to all, it is not unreasonable to
expect that personal feeling and private interests should yield to the paramount
consideration of the public welfare."
I am not aware that Board or other Elementary Schools
yet include in their curriculum the teaching of matters of such
every-day and universal interest as the laws of health; but
that disclosure of infectious disease, long since recognized to
be necessary, has now been made universally compulsory, is
in no slight measure the outcome of your Vestry's action. In
the absence of any system of notification, my first efforts, on
appointment in 1871, were directed to obtain voluntary
information ; and much of great value was given by the Board
of Guardians, through the relieving officers, who held the