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the excellent diagnostic facilities available in our laboratory and the
care and attention given in the visitation to the follow-up of cases
and contacts. These have led to a very close and friendly relation
between both the Public, the local practitioners and this department,
resulting in the notification of nearly all the cases which have
occurred. Although, therefore, at first sight we may regret the
apparent unduly high incidence which may, of course, be partly
due to the overcrowded nature of the Borough, yet I am of opinion
that in the main it reflects the high standard and value of our
Preventive Services.
There was little change in the general environmental conditions
prevailing throughout the Borough during the year, and indeed there
has been little during the past few years. Apart from the problem
of vacant sites to which I have previously referred, the sanitary
conditions have remained generally satisfactory, and only in
exceptional instances have they constituted a direct threat to Health.
I am glad to be able to report that Finsbury remains in the
forefront in providing services to preserve the Health of the Aged.
The additional arrangements made by or in conjunction with the
Council during the year are set out on another page, and here
I will only call attention to the inauguration of an experimental
Part-time Employment Scheme which already by the end of the
year had proved of great value.
Many Health and Welfare Schemes organised by central and
local government agencies are now available, but I believe there is
ample scope for personal service and gifts in money or in kind from
the charitably minded, and perhaps in no field is the scope greater
than among the elderly. During the year I was offered, and gladly
accepted, the post of Honorary Secretary of the Old People's Welfare
Committee which represents all the major voluntary societies. I hope,
that by occupation of this post, to effect that close co-ordination
between statutory and voluntary efforts which is so desirable in the
interests of efficiency and economy.
Housing conditions, however, remain a serious menace to
Physical as well as to Mental Health. Apart from the dilapidated