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at the beginning of this report with regard to the mortality from
this disease in Battersea applies, relatively speaking, with equal
force to the rest of London. Under existing circumstances, it
it almost impossible to prevent the spread of the disease in
districts like Batttersea when patients—more especially in the early
stages of the disease—are found living with other members of
the family, very often in crowded rooms. Under such conditions
it is almost certain that the disease will spread to other members
of the family, and be passed on to others.
The measures which, therefore, should commend themselves
mainly to the Committee are:—
1. An effective and uniform system of notification.
2. A rigid supervision of the food supply.
3. The effective application of the Public Health and
Housing of the Working Classes Acts in connection with
insanitary property.
4. The provision of Sanatoria and Dispensaries for
the treatment of suitable cases.
5. The removal of advanced cases to special Infirmaries
or Isolation Wards.
With regard to the provision of Sanatoria, a double purpose
is served. In the first place, suitable cases are permanently cured
and enabled to become again useful citizens, while, in the second
place, even in cases in which such desirable results are not
obtained, the patient is educated as to the nature of the disease
and the precautions to be adopted when he or she returns home.
When he has obtained this experience, he is practically—to a
large extent, at least—in a position to do all that hospital isolation
can accomplish.
There are other points connected with preventive measures
to which attention might usefully be drawn, but as these would