Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
The annual report made to the Council of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich for the year 1921
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45
REPORT OF THE TUBERCULOSIS OFFICER.
To the Medical Officer of Health.
Sir,
In presenting the Ninth Annual Report of the Dispensary, it
is necessary to point out that by the passing into law of the National
Health Insurance Act of 1920, Sanatorium benefit as provided by
the Insurance Act of 1911 ceased as from the 30th April, 1921,
and institutional treatment for both insured and uninsured patients
suffering from Tuberculosis, together with the supervision of domiciliary
cases, now rests with the London County Council.
This change does not affect the work of the Dispensary, and
the Borough scheme for dealing with Tuberculosis remains as
described in the report of last year.
At the close of 1921 it was estimated that there were alive and
residing in the Borough some 1,308 persons suffering from Tuberculosis,
viz.:—
Men. Women. Children.
Pulmonary Tuberculosis (Consumption) 326 278 111
Other Forms (Glands, Bones, etc.) 47 50 496
These figures include every case notified to the Public Health
Department since 1912, and show a slight decrease from the previous
year. Of the 496 children noted above, the large majority
of them suffer from "enlarged glands."
The Primary Notifications for 1921 numbered 336, of which
263 were of Pulmonary Tuberculosis and 73 of other forms. It
is to be regretted that the remarks of last year with regard to
notification are still applicable. Thus 32 patients died before notification
was received. The great majority of these non-notified
cases were connected with Hospitals and similar institutions. Efforts
are being made to overcome this difficulty.
Taking Pulmonary Tuberculosis alone, 119 patients died in 1921, and the Death-Notification interval works out as follows:—
Died before notification received | 32 |
Died within one week of notification | 8 |
,, ,, one week to one month of notification | 6 |
,, ,, one month to three months of notification | 18 |
,, ,, three months to six months of notification | 13 |
,, ,, six months to twelve months of notification | 11 |
,, ,, one year to two years of notification | 18 |
,, ,, two years to three years of notification | 4 |
,, ,, three years to four years of notification | |
,, ,, four or more years after notification | 6 |
The following table gives the Notifications and Deaths from
Pulmonary Tuberculosis, with the Incidence and Death Rates for