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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF
HEALTH FOR THE -YEAR 1906.
To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Commons
of the Corporation of London.
Public Health Department,
Guildhall, E.C.,
March, 1907.
Gentlemen,
In conformity with the requirements of the Local Government
Board, I have the honour to present my seventh Annual Report as Medical
Officer of Health for the City of London.
The year under review has been an exceptionally busy one, and although
not marked by any special activity in dealing with one subject, there has been
a difficulty at times in preventing the work getting into arrear. The recent
appointment of three Assistant Inspectors of Meat, and an additional Clerk,
will, however, improve the general administration of the Department.
In November last your officers had to deal with a quantity of unsound
tinned food which had been returned to this country from South Africa.
The goods in question were stated to be returned Army Stores. Not only were
the contents found in a state of decomposition, but a chemical analysis showed
that they contained metallic impurity. The facts were brought to the notice
of the Local Government Board and the Army Council, and it is to be hoped
that steps will be taken by the responsible authorities in order to prevent in
future such unwholesome food being placed on the market.
Much consideration has been given throughout the year to the subject of
meat inspection generally, and the importation of Foreign and Colonial meat
in particular. The question of Tuberculosis in meat and milk in its relation
to the human subject has been also widely discussed, and the publication of
the second interim Report of the Royal Commission—at present dealing with
the matter in all its bearings—will doubtless do much to promote uniformity
of procedure on the part of Local Sanitary Authorities throughout the country,
and definitely nullify the mischievous theory that has led many, especially
dealers in meat, to believe that animal tuberculosis has little or no relation to
tuberculosis in the human subject.
The difficulty of carrying out the statutory duties imposed upon Sanitary
Authorities by the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, is yearly increasing,
and in November, 1906, a reminder in the form of a memorandum was issued
by the Local Government Board that clearly indicated the Board intended to
insist upon Local Authorities fully complying with their statutory obligations.
The figures given on pp. 67 and 83 will show the rapid increase of the work
thrown upon your officers since the passing of the Act referred to.