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anti-toxin serum is unnecessary. We have been immunising children
for nearly 4 years, and have inoculated over .5,000 children, and
there has not been a single death in those who have received three
inoculations. It is recognised that if we are to succeed in our
effort to stamp out diphtheria a large proportion of pre-school children
must be immunised. Statistics from different towns show that
until a certain percentage of school children are rendered immune,
a marked fall in the incidence and morbidity of diphtheria will not
occur. So long as we concentrate on the school child, our success
will only be partial. We have a diphtheria immunisation clinic
for pre-school children on Saturday mornings, and judged by results,
it has been successful, but it is only by persistent effort and
propaganda that we are able to get the consent and co-operation
of the parents. So long as diphtheria was prevalenf in the district,
fear was sufficient to drive the parents to seek the protection which
artificial immunisation provides. Immunisation having succeeded
to such an extent that notifications now are very few, the parents
again are apt to sink into apathy and indifference.
Dental supervision is another subject which has here received
special attention. In the school holidays, we have for many
years, arranged for a special dental clinic for the examination of
the toddlers' teeth. The school dental surgeon attends, and gives
an address to the mothers in addition to carrying out the routine
inspections of the toddlers' teeth. The Chairman and members of
the Child Welfare Committee have arranged a tea for the mothers.
In spite of all the advantages, the attendance during the past
year or two at these special toddlers' clinics has not been as satisfactory
as we could wish. Parents are still too apt to regard the
care of the milk teeth as an unimportant item in the toddlers'
hygiene; there is an apparent need for the strenuous education of
the parent in the importance of dental hygiene to the ultimate
healthy development of the child.
Apart from the special facilities provided and which we are
anxious that the parent should take advantage of, the general
nurture of the child between the ages of 1 and 5 years is of extreme
importance. The importance of nutrition and of the best diet
has been over and again emphasised, and it is not unusual to find
that mothers pay particular attention to the feeding of the babyunder
1 year old, but are indifferent in the second and third
years of the child's life, and frequently allow him to take pothick
at the family meal table.
To what extent does supervision at the present time exist,
and can it be extended ? Last year 6,275 home visits were paid
to children between the ages of 1 and 5 years, compared with 6,375