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41
Committee, which is known as the Astor Committee. The
Report of the Committee contains valuable observations and
recommendations based upon present knowledge of the disease.
The scheme which the Committee recommends for the prevention
and treatment of the disease is intended to complete
the existing public health administration throughout the Kingdom
and consists of two units, the first being the establishment
of Tuberculosis Dispensaries, and the second the establishment
of Sanatoria and Hospitals.
We may dispose of the second unit, viz., the provision of
sanatoria, inasmuch as the Council have already, conjointly
with other London Sanitary Authorities, expressed the opinion
that sanatorium treatment in London should be provided and
maintained by the Metropolitan Asylums Board for insured
and uninsured persons alike.
This clears the ground for the consideration of the first
unit proposed by the Departmental Committee, viz., the establishment
of Tuberculosis Dispensaries.
The Committee are of opinion that the Tuberculosis Dispensary
should be the common centre for the organization
of treatment in each area, and the object to be attained should
be that no single case in the community remained uncared for.
The Functions of a Tuberculosis Dispensary.
The Dispensary should be a receiving house and centre
for diagnosis, patients in every stage of the disease, and e\en
suspected cases will come or be sent for treatment, and thus
the possibility of early detection will be much increased.
The Dispensary as a Clearing House.
It is intended that the Dispensary should form a clearinghouse
through which sufferers from various forms of the
disease should be passed on to the person or institution which
provides the treatment appropriate to the case.
For this system to be successful the Medical Officer of
the Dispensary must be in close touch with the general medical
practitioner and the directors of public institutions.
Insured persons suitable for sanatorium treatment would
be handed over to the County Insurance Committee, while
efforts would be made to place uninsured persons in other
sanatoria or hospitals.