View report page

21
this latter part of the twentieth century infection has long ceased
to be the leading cause of death. Mortality and morbidity are now
dominated by the degenerative diseases of middle and old age,
the hazards of trauma, and the strain of living in an increasingly
competitive and congested world — aided and abetted by the
indiscipline of over-indulgence and of environmental pollution,
the unthinking or wilful neglect of human relationships, and last
but not least the failure of those most in need to take full
advantage of the facilities available for medical care and advice.
It can truly be said that never before has the health of the man
in the street rested so largely in his own hands, whether as
private individual or as citizen - for the importance of communal
health measures must not be overlooked, as witness the modern
triumph of the clean air campaign. Never has prevention been
more relevant. Never has there been so much help available to
the young and the old, the mentally disordered and the physically
handicapped. Never have so many been in need of support.
Finally, never has medical care in hospital been more expensivethe
inevitable outcome of matching the complexity of the challenge
posed by contemporary disease and disability.
Thus the demand upon the national resources which health,
education and social services make grows steadily and the
financial implications are well spelt out in the excellent foreword
to the Hunter Report. Inevitably the informed public gaze will
focus more and more on health rather than disease, prevention
of illness rather than its treatment, care rather than cure, ability
rather than disability, and above all on the patient as a whole
person and a member of a family and larger community rather than
as an individual case. The message for medicine is clear.
THE MESSAGE OF HUNTER
This is of multiple import. In the first place it conveys in
no uncertain terms the reality of the years ahead, namely, that
medicine will perforce need to compete ever more vigorously
with other pressing claims upon the public purse both within and
without the field of health, education and welfare. To do so
effectively will, demand good husbandry: the requirement to
ensure that the resources already available are used to the
greatest advantage will hold equally true for the unified health
service now looming large on the horizon.