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THE HEALTH OF BARKING
During 1947 there were 56 deaths from tuberculosis, 51 being pulmonary and
5 non-pulmonary.
During the year negotiations initiated by the Essex County Council were
completed for the transference of the Tuberculosis Dispensary from 37 Linton
Road to the Barking Hospital, where a part of Lister Ward will be taken over for
this purpose.
Mass Radiography. At the end of the year a survey was conducted in Barking
by the Mass Radiography Unit of the Essex County Council and 7,355 persons
were examined. Of this number no less than 6,875 were found to have normal
films, which means there were 480 cases not in all respects normal. Of this 480,
263 were suffering from tubercle of the chest of some kind or another, but again
of this number 247 cases were inactive, which means that some 16 cases were found
to have active lesions.
In a survey of this nature it is difficult to deduce quite clearly the position of
the people of Barking as such, because many firms were encouraged, quite properly,
to send up to the Unit employees who did not live in Barking.
Further, in the cases of two large firms, each employing a considerable number
of people of whom only a proportion live in Barking, surveys were actually carried
out in the works and the results of such surveys are not included in the figures quoted
above.
It is, however, possible to come to some general conclusions, the most important
of which perhaps is that it would appear the position in Barking is about average
and that whilst one cannot regard the situation as other than serious, there is no
need for undue anxiety in Barking compared with other places.
VENEREAL DISEASES.
The Essex County Council is responsible for this service.
Treatment facilities are provided at General Hospitals, including the County
Hospital at Oldchurch and the London Hospital (Turner Street Clinic).
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