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17
PART 2
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
The Health Services and Public Health Act, 1968
(Part III—Notifiable Diseases and Food Poisoning)
The Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations, 1968
The above-named Act and Regulations came into operation on
1st October, 1968. Previous provisions relating to the notification
procedure for cases of infectious diseases and for cases of food
poisoning were different one from another, and were set out in
different statutes (Public Health Act, 1936, and Food and Drugs
Act, 1955). The 1968 Act repeals the provisions in the 1936 and
1955 Acts relating to notification procedures, and sets out a
unified procedure.
All provisions governing notification of infectious disease and
food poisoning are now to be found in Sections 47-49 of the Act.
and in the Regulations.
Changes and additions have been made in the list of notifiable
diseases, leptospirosis, tetanus, and yellow fever being made notifiable
whereas acute primary pneumonia, acute influenzal pneumonia,
erysipelas, membraneous croup and puerperal pyrexia cease
to be notifiable. The full list of diseases including those defined
as "notifiable diseases" in Section 47 of the Act and those diseases
for which Section 48 of the Act is applied by the Regulations, is
as set out in Tables 1 and 2 on pages 21 and 22.
During the year 1,487 cases of infectious disease were reported,
the decrease in number compared with the previous year being
mainly due to the drop in the incidence of measles. Of the 1,487
cases reported, 1,280 notifications were confirmed and these are
shown in Tables 1 and 2 in their age groups and in the areas in
which they occurred. A commentary on the notifications is given
overleaf.
Vaccination and immunization against certain infectious diseases
is one of the personal health services available to certain groups
of people and a reference to this service will be found on page 70.