View report page

73
subject of proposed legislation with regard to infectious disease
attributable to milk, expressing the hope that Metropolitan Borough
Councils will support their recommendations, I beg to report as
follows:—
Report of the Public HealthCommittee of the London County
. Council, dated 9th May, 1901.
The question here involved is a very important one. It is not
necessary to discuss in any way the question as to the possibility or
probability of conveyance of infection by diseased milk.
In spite of recent pronouncements on the question, it must be held
that there is sufficient evidence that certain diseases can be conveyed by
milk, although to what extent this may occur is certainly problematical.
As the Public Health Committee of the London County Council point
out, the Medical Officer of Health of any district has power to deal with
a dairy, whether within or without his district, if he has reason to
suspect that any person within his district is suffering from any infectious
disease attributable to milk bought from this particular dairy, and the
power and procedure is set forth in Section 71 of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891. This section clearly gives definite and sufficient
power to protect any individual district from disease communicated from
any dairy. But the Report of the Committee goes on to point out that
this protection is not sufficient, inasmuch as although the Medical Officer
of Health of any district has power to exclude milk, which he believes
to be dangerous to the public health, from being sold in his own district,
he has no power to prevent such milk being sold in other districts, and
the Council seeks for power to occupy this position. It is true that if
any Medical Officer of Health were aware of the extent of disease, he
could circularise the Medical Officers of Health of the other districts,
but this does not seem a reasonable way of dealing with the question,
and it would appear that some central authority should have the power
of dealing with London as a whole, provided always that whatever power
the County Council or other central authority might obtain for dealing
with London as a whole, the City should retain equal power and
jurisdiction.
Report of the Public Health Committee of the London County
Council, dated 11 th June, 1901.
In this Report it is pointed out that the following statutory powers
are urgently needed:—
(1.) Power to require a dairyman to supply to the Medical Officer
of Health of the district a list of his customers, on payment
of a small sum for the service.
There is ample precedent for such power being obtained.