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In December, 1959, a further milestone was reached by the setting-up of a Committee,
under Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, to assess the' results of health education in the past; outline
its most effective methods; and recommend future developments. The Committee published its
Report in December, 1963, dealt very fully with health education, and made no less than 43
recommendations for its future. One of these urged the employment of Health Education Officers;
and Hammersmith was fortunate in securing the services of one who was appointed in
August, 1965. From that time the programme of health education has steadily expanded; and
films, film strips, posters, advertising, press copy, exhibitions, seminars, school talks, visits,
national and local campaigns, and other educational facilities have all been used to reach,
educate, inform, instruct, and guide an ever-larger public.
At the Annual Hammersmith Show in September the opportunity was taken to publicise the
Environmental, Personal Health, Welfare, Children's, and General Social Services. This was
followed by the setting-up of a permanent Health Education Exhibition at 2 - 6 Fulham Broadway,
entitled "Design for Living", which was opened by the Minister of Health, Mr. Kenneth Robinson,
M.P., and which caters for the genera' public,schools, and other organisations. It has attracted
large numbers of visitors by the very wide range of educational and instructional material on show,
whilst similar publicity material has also been displayed in windows throughout the Borough on
poster sites, at local cinemas and during Borough and National Campaigns. In these many activities
Clinics, Welfare Centres, Youth Clubs, and other local Associations were included.
Deaths and accidents in the home, (which account for twice the number of deaths
and accidents on the road), were also given their fair share of the limelight; and, by keeping in
close touch with manufacturers of domestic appliances, and with such bodies as the Gas and
Electricity Boards, it has been possible to incorporate in the Borough's educational and publicity
campaign up-to-date information on household ring-circuits, plugs, fuses, cooker and fire
guards, and numerous other safety devices. Other subjects which received maximum publicity
during the year, and became the themes of local campaigns were oil heater servicing, fireworks,
non-flam materials, winter safety, immunisation, foster-parents, and home-helps; whilst frequent
references have been made to the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. Venereal diseases have
also come in for their share of publicity and a report on them is featured elsewhere in this
Report.
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