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Its co-operation with the League of Nations in the establishment
of an International Health Organisation for matters
affecting public welfare will be of the utmost importance in the
progressive development of civilisation.
The Minister of Health is also associated with the newly
formed Medical Research Council, which is a most valuable
development of the Medical Research Committee, which was
initiated during the War, and issued many important reports.
The Minister of Health has also recently appointed a
Departmental Committee on Smoke Abatement. The Coal
Smoke Abatement Society has for many years been a pioneer
in this direction, and eight years ago the Holborn Council
distributed more than 10,000 copies of a pamphlet "More
Sunshine for London "emphasising the great importance of
increased gas and electricity and smoke-consuming stoves and
furnaces.
While co-ordination of International, Central and Local
Health Authorities is essential, of no less value is Self-Help,
and this side of the problem is to be the special feature of this
year's Health Week.
HELP YOURSELF TO HEALTH.
The necessity for this Selp-Help has been shown by the
statistics of the examination of recruits for the War, which disclosed
an appalling amount of the C 3 population. The medical
examination of schoolchildren has shewn that a million were so
defective as to be unable to derive reasonable benefit at school.
The latest Insurance returns showed that more than half of the
Insured persons received medical treatment every year, and
that among these there were more than 14,000,000 weeks of
sickness a year, equal to a loss of working time of 270,000 years.
In order to obtain an A 1 population, it is therefore essential
that the laws of Health should not only be taught, but the
importance of Self-Help inculcated, and a Health conscience
developed, so that these beneficent laws may be willingly
obeyed, for Nature is very benignant if her laws are obeyed,
but very ruthless to all who ignorantly or wilfully disobey them.
The gradual recuperative power of living organisms is, however,
very great under improved conditions of life.
Children and adolescents ought to be taught the love of
truth, knowledge of the marvellous universe in which they live,
obedience to discipline, self-control by the development of the
higher centres of the brain, "and to play the game strenuously
and fairly.
HOW THE BODY WORKS.
The human being, like any of the higher animals, consists
of many millions of small complex cells, each specially developed
to carry out its special duty and function for the benefit of the
whole. The Science of Embryology has proved that the human