View report page

64
In a district such as Southwark the majority of the persons affe cted by
the Phthisis are of the working class, and owing in many cases to
the limited accommodation that can be provided for the family,
there is great danger of the disease being conveyed to the other
members. It is only by rigid precautions being taken that the
disease can be confined to the patient originally affected.
It is very satisfactory at the present time to know that a great many
agencies are at work in the Borough, having for their object the
amelioration of the conditions under which many of the people
in our district live. Even in the last eight years these agencies
must have been instrumental in lowering the total number of
deaths from Phthisis. There has been since 1901 a material
decrease in the number of deaths from this disease. In that
year for the whole Borough the number was 516. In 1902, 550;
in 1903, 496; in 1904, 499; in 1905, 443; in 1906, 429;
in 1907, 425 ; and in 1908, 403.
It is considered that at the very least, six times the number of
persons who have died in the year are affected by the complaint,
and many place the figure as high as ten times. On that
estimation we should have in Southwark upwards of 4,000
persons suffering from Phthisis at the present time. Southwark
suffers more than other districts by the large number of common
lodging houses in the Borough, by the casual nature of the
employment of many of its inhabitants and the consequent
poverty, and by the severe struggle for existence seen around us.
By the voluntary notification of Phthisis, which is steadily
increasing, disinfection and other preventive methods have been
carried out during the last few years.
The Woolwich Borough Council have had beds in the Maitland
Cottage Sanatorium, Peppard, Oxfordshire, for the last six
years. They maintain seven beds there at the present time.
The annual cost to that Council is £78 per bed, and in the
various reports of their Medical Officer of Health he expresses
himself as very satisfied with the good that has been done to
those who have been treated in the Sanatorium. More recently
Westminster City Council have maintained a certain number
of beds in the same Sanatorium, and in a similar manner they
are satisfied with what has been done. There are many other
Sanatoria throughout England to which patients can be sent.