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fying various preventative measures and reviews the
value of existing measures to bring the disease under
control. Among the suggested remedies are greater efforts
to discover the source of a new case, the supervision of
contacts, the extension of the use of B.C.G. Vaccine, and the
more selective use of Miniature Mass radiography. It will
be seen, therefore, that the implementation of this scheme
requires the closest co-operation between Chest Clinics, the
Local Health Authority the general practitioners and the
Local Authorities; the latter being concerned, mainly, as
housing authorities and as the authorities responsible, in an
important measure, for the local control of infectious disease.
The task is one of the most arduous thrown on the
health services for many years but it is the only sure way of
getting rid of tuberculosis in the foreseeable future. The
need for the collaboration of a large number of medical and
social workers is called for and the effect on the health
department would be considerable. It is to be hoped that,
in the coming years, this joint action will be taken.
Another impending development is the new housing
legislation which is at present embodied in the Housing
Repairs and Rents Bill now before Parliament. While the
provision of new housing has proceeded apace, the older
houses have tended to deteriorate during the war and since
and the new Bill is, in part, concerned with slum clearance,
the patching up of sub-standard houses and the improvement
and conversion of older properties with a view to
extending their life while further new houses are provided.
There are no slums in the Borough in the accepted sense of
the word but there is a manageable number of obsolescent
houses which are ripe for demolition and could be tackled
within the next few years. These could be demolished as
individual unfit houses or as small clearance schemes and,
particularly in the former case, the problem of rehousing the
occupants is one of great difficulty. Often they are occupied
by old persons living on their old age pension and the transfer
to a more hygienic new house or flat is overshadowed
by the fear of higher rents and the possible reduction of
expenditure on food and other essentials. It is, however,
true that the National Assistance Board, is often able to
offset rent increases in such cases where supplementary
allowances are in force.
The Food and Drugs (Amendment) Bill at present
before Parliament may also place further responsibilities on
the Health Department in that it foreshadows the extension
of registration to classes of premises not covered at present
by Section 14 of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938.
The Bexley, Erith and Crayford Clean Food Guild has
continued its work during the year and at present 112
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