View report page

258
more significant still is the fact that there is a greater relative
incidence of mortality upon the ages 3 to 5 in London than in
Berlin, lending support to the view that diphtheria mortality is
affected by the age at which compulsory attendance at school
begins. In Berlin this age is the sixth year.
From the point of view of the prevention of infectious disease
as well as in many other respects, therefore, the closure of infants'
schools should, in my opinion, be enforced, and if the social and
financial conditions of the community demand it, some other
method of dealing with these children should be found, either by
the provision of crèches, infant nurseries, etc., or other suitable
arrangements in the (in my opinion, undesirable) absence of the
mothers. The provision of crèches, infant nurseries, etc., while
not, in my judgment, a perfect method of dealing with the difficulty,
would be more adapted to the needs of such young children
than infant schools, especially when the conditions which are
inseparable from school life are borne in mind (e.g., crowded
rooms, mental strain and fatigue) and which are such as would not
obtain in the former case, with the obvious result that the vital
resistance of the children would of necessity be greater.
The new legislation which came into force this year, i.e.,
The Education (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907, which provides
for the medical inspection of school children, is an event
of the highest public importance in relation to the spread of
disease and of the public health generally, and cannot fail to
receive the most serious and sympathetic consideration of the
Committee and Council. It marks a tremendous advance in the
educational development of the nation, and will, if carefully and
systematically carried out, be productive of the greatest value
to future generations. To the Memorandum recently issued on
the subject by the Board of Education, I would desire to draw the
attention of the Committee as a Sanitary Authority; the possibilities
connected with this measure making it desirable that they
should see in what position they stand in relation to this important
subject so far as Battersea is concerned.