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7
The Borough had 8 cases of poliomyelitis, but there were only
17 cases of food poisoning notified to us.
I am glad to include some observations by Dr. Morgan, Director
of the Mass Miniature Radiography Unit for this area. The results
of these surveys suggest to Dr. Morgan that random and selective
examination of the public in South-east London are revealing
numbers of active pulmonary tuberculosis slightly in excess of the
national average at similar surveys. It is true that notifications are
again down, this time by 6, but as Dr. Morgan points out, these are
cases who normally have sought medical advice, and he advocates
all adults who have not been previously x-rayed to make use of the
facilities of mass miniature radiography. This advice I would
heartily endorse and applies not only to the adolescent and the
working adult but also to the elderly who can be a fertile source of
latent infection in the community. It behoves all public-spirited
citizens to visit the Mass Miniature Radiography Unit when it is in
their area in order to satisfy themselves at least once that they are
not suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis or other serious chest
ailment, and to avail themselves of all treatment facilities and
preventive measures if found to be necessary. This seems to me to
be the only effective way that the residuum of infection can be
eliminated from the community and the last great infectious epidemic
disease in the country be conquered.
This is written in no spirit of alarm, for the position of pulmonary
tuberculosis in Greenwich continues to be satisfactory, if we
can judge by our notification rates and death rates, which have
been falling steadily during the last decade. These results are due
in large measure to the vigilance of local practitioners and to the
excellent work of the Chest Clinic in treatment of cases, tracing of
contacts, administration of BCG, and to the multifarious sociomedical
work done on a voluntary basis by the After-Care Committee.
The general raising of the standard of living of the community
and the improvement of housing environment provided by the Slum
Clearance programmes of this Council and the London County
Council, and the building programme of both authorities, are all
having and will continue to have a cumulative effect not only in the
eradication of this disease but of other disabilities which have their
roots in deprivation and unhealthy living conditions.
The Rent Act came into force during the year and has presented
this Department with difficulties both of administration and of
interpretation. The main provisions are detailed in the body of
the Report.