View report page

«
_ 4
DISINFECTION.
The Disinfecting service is a branch of Public Health,
which seldom gets the attention and thanks it deserves for
its unobtrusive, but necessary work. To a large extent the
title is now a misnomer. With the abandonment of some of
the earlier ideas about the sacred rite of room disinfection
after every case of scarlet fever, the work of the disinfecting
staff is now concerned mainly with the destruction of
pests much larger than bacteria (although quite likely to be
their hosts). Recent years have shown a rising public
standard with regard to the destruction of domestic vermin,
and there is greater readiness to make use of public resources
to secure and maintain a higher level of hygiene in the home.
War circumstances have naturally hindered this process, but
by accentuating some of orr problems (e.g., increasing
incidence of sbabies and bug infestation through greater
personal contact in sleeping and washing arrangements) they
have rendered more necessary than ever the most efficient
provision of public facilities for personal cleanliness and
freedom from insect parasites. It is regrettable that this
was not more clearly foreseen at the outbreak of war, if not
before, when so many cleansing institutions were taken over
for First Aid, Decontamination and other civil deferce
purposes, which, although equally, if not more, important for
the time being, would have been much better conducted from
premises specially devised for those purposes. Ihe closing
of the Council's.Personal Cleansing Station in September,
1959, and the long delay in securing first sanction to and
then the actual building of a much less efficient temporary
alternative had the unfortunate consequence of leaving large
numbers of cases of scabies either untreated or ineffectively
treated, so that when public treatment was once more available,
there had accumulated a large reservoir of scabies
infestation in the district. Apart from the destruction of
insect vermin, the disinfecting staff have also rendered
useful, service in the drying of bedding, etc., which had
become damp through exposure to the weather in war-damaged
houses or through dampness in air raid shelters.
HOUSING.
Ihe standstill in housing improvement imposed by the war
continues. It is, however, useful to take stock of the
situation created by the war. In 1939, the housing of the
Borough might have been divided into 4 categories
(1) That which was included in the redevelopment or other
insanitary areas in process of being dealt with by the
London County Council or the Borough Council.
(2) Other housing in the Borough which was eligible for
similar treatment.
(3) Housing of a modern type erected by the London County
Council, Borough Council and Public Utility Societies
in recent years.
(4) Ihe remaining housing in the Borough which, although
structurally sound end free from serious sanitary defects
was ageing, lacking in domestic convenience and amenity,
and definitely below modern standards of planning.