View report page

126
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
other Tubercular diseases the rate among males was .26, compared
with .42; and among females .20, compared with .31.
Among children under five years the rate for the year was
.15, compared with .23, the decennial average.
Although there has been a slight reduction in the rate for
1910, compared with the previous 10 years, yet this reduction will
not be so great if the population has been overestimated, a possible
error which can only be corrected after the publication of the
Census returns for 1911. I am still of opinion that compulsory
notification of all cases of this disease is necessary before any
great reduction can occur, and also that some further action will
require to be taken by Sanitary Authorities.
At the present time the methods adopted by some Authorities
are—
(1) Sanatorium treatment. This can only deal with a few
cases at a time, and which also has this objection, that it is a
very expensive form of treatment.
Among the well-to-do the curative value of sanatoria may be
great, but this means prolonged stay in the sanatorium and residence
under healthy conditions afterwards. Among the poor a
prolonged stay is as a rule impossible, and, even if partially cured,
a return to town life in many cases leads to a recrudescence of
the disease.
(2) Tuberculosis Dispensaries are now being established by
several Sanitary Authorities, most of them on the lines of the
Royal Victoria Dispensary for Consumption in Edinburgh, started
about 20 years ago by Dr. R. W. Philip.
In the Borough of Paddington, where a charitably supported
dispensary was started in January, 1909, good work is being done,
not only in examination of patients at the dispensary, but also
in visiting the homes of the patients to arrange and supervise the
treatment, and also to examine the other members of the family
so that early cases may be at once detected and treated.