London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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The figures in St. Pancras are somewhat coloured by the fact that there are
two Rowton Houses in the borough containing no less than 2,000 individuals, and
a proportion of these are suffering from tuberculosis. They are living in relative
isolation and not in close daily contact with susceptible children and adolescents.
It has been suggested that the mixed population of St. Pancras contributes towards the number of cases of tuberculosis notified during the year. The following table sets out to the best of our knowledge the place of birth of those persons notified as suffering from tuberculosis who came to St. Pancras from other countries.
| Irish | 41 | Canadian | 1 |
| Greek/Cypriot | 17 | Swedish | 1 |
| W. African | 3 | Australian | 1 |
| Indian | 6 | French | 1 |
| Polish | 1 | Russian | 1 |
| W. Indian | 3 | Chinese | 1 |
| Italian | 3 | Remainder British | |
It will be seen that they number 80 of the 254 primary notifications.
The Council will be aware that there are many who advocate that individuals
coming to this country with a view to living here permanently should have a
medical examination including a chest X-ray before leaving their country of
origin. It is argued that this might prevent entry to this country of persons
suffering from tuberculosis or at least secure their immediate treatment on
arriving here. This does not necessarily follow. It would be interesting to
know how long each of the 80 persons referred to in the above table had lived
in England before contracting tuberculosis, for it is possible that a proportion
of them developed the disease in this country.
During the year no death was recorded as due to childbirth. This is the
first occasion when it has been possible to report so happy a return and
represents great credit to the work of our hospitals, doctors, midwives and the
ante-natal clinics.
I would once again call attention to the fact that our Public Health
Inspectors paid no less than 37,608 visits. May I repeat, that the Public Health
Inspector is not just an official seeking to cause trouble either for tenant or
landlord. He is the friend of the tenant who comes to him when he is in trouble,
and looks to him for sound advice and help; on the other hand, landlords seek
his advice daily as to drainage problems and difficult tenancies. Increasingly
do I find doctors and social workers approaching the department for the help of
the Public Health Inspector. To-day he must be trained not only in sanitary
science and engineering, but in practically every branch of social welfare, from
the services available to help an aged person, to advice to a tenant or landlord
on questions relating to rent and repairs. He must be an expert on food hygiene
and atmospheric pollution and have a sound knowledge of the spread of infectious
disease. Above all he must be kindly and human, and patient with the many
complaints which he hears every day of the week.
Poliomyelitis
Dr. Tracy and I have been very concerned with the programme of immunisation
against poliomyelitis. It became obvious to us in July, 1957, that the production
of British vaccine would be inadequate to immunise the susceptible proportion
of the population within a reasonable time and we advised that vaccine should
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