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6
To the Chairman and Members of the
Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Council.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Under the terms of Ministry of Health Circular 1/1954. I
submit my Annual Report on the Health of the district during the
year 1953.
It will be my last Annual Report and it is. perhaps, opportune
that I should "sum up " my belief that, in so far as Chislehurst
and Sidcup is concerned, most of the Public Health problems that
confronted the Public Health Committees many years ago have
been eliminated. A greater Public Health conscience has been
established—as an example, we no longer see such notices in public
conveyances as "Do not spit!" The common infectious diseases
have lost their sting; food is produced and handled under vastly
improved conditions ; the homes and the environment of the people
at home and at work have improved beyond measure; the
expectation of life has been lengthened and the new young life
saved from death. The child at school has improved in health
and in height and weight and is clean and free of gross verminous
conditions.
As the old problems are solved, so do new problems arise.
We know that the "stress" diseases, e.g., cardiovascular, duodenal
ulceration, are on the increase. A new approach to Public Health
is needed if we are to cope with the stress and strain of modern
urban life. We know that there is an increase in deaths from
cancer of the lung, which, so far as we are able to judge, calls for
cleansing the air that reaches our lungs of all possible carcinogenic
factors. We must learn afresh that, although the ways of prevention
are hard, they are necessary if we are to combat the ever rising
demands on the treatment services. We still need " one home, one
family " if we are to build up and maintain " family unity." around
which all Health Services must evolve. Government of local affairs
must be local, especially in those services which are applicable to
the family, and we must give continuous encouragement to the
voluntary agencies who are doing so much for the advancement of
the social and health services. The General Practitioner must be
brought into the Public Health and Preventive Medical services for
it is he who has the key to the family health.
The census of 1951 indicates that there is more "over
crowding" in Chislehurst and Sidcup than in either of their
neighbouring authorities, thus Chislehurst and Sidcup has 0.77
persons per room, compared with 0.67 in Bromley and 0.70 in
Orpington. Further. 1.65% of the Chislehurst and Sidcup population
live more than two persons per room, compared with 0.93%
in Bromley and 0.86% in Orpington. It is. however, interesting to
note that Chislehurst and Sidcup have 1.701 households sharing