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7
To the Chairman and Members of the
Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Council.
Madam Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Rightly or wrongly 1 have conceived the idea that a letter such
as this should attempt to highlight some of the more important
features of the local health—features which it must be admitted
are often characteristic of national trends also. Towards the end
of the year under review, that most dreaded of infectious diseases
—Smallpox—was imported into this country, and continued to be
a health hazard well on into 1962. The nearest case was in an
adjoining local authority's area, and public alarm was indicated
by the demand for vaccination which was a great embarrassment
to many general practitioners who were already fully engaged in
dealing with the ailments which are prevalent in the winter months.
Although it would be impossible to keep the population of
Chislehurst and Sidcup permanently immune to Smallpox, the outbreak
did tend to underline the importance of infant vaccination
which one hopes will in future be done in many more cases than
has been the practice in recent years. A number of contacts of
the disease came under surveillance and several suspected cases
were seen, but fortunately no confirmed case occurred in the
district.
Infectious disease as a whole had a bad time during 1961,
with the sole exception of measles, but this should only spur us on
to the effort needed to eliminate once and for all two of the more
alarming illnesses. I am referring to diphtheria and anterior poliomyelitis
which although not affecting this district still cause death
and invalidism which could be avoided nearly always by proper
attention to the prophylactic measures now available. In the case
of anterior poliomyelitis the vaccine can now be taken by mouth,
and the procedure is so simple, safe and without inconvenience, that
it is amazing that all persons under the age of 40 do not take
advantage of this very straightforward procedure.
Smoking is a subject upon which I have touched with some
vehemence on a number of occasions, but no apology should be
needed for stressing yet again the appalling risks of serious ill-health
to which the heavy smoker particularly of cigarettes exposes him
or herself so heedlessly.
During the past year, 33 local residents lost their lives to lung
cancer, and for the whole country the figure exceeded 25,000. In
addition to this there was an enormous morbidity and mortality
from bronchitis and other diseases where smoking at least is very
much under suspicion as a contributory factor.
If we now turn our attention to the vital statistics, the birth
rate shows little variation from the previous year, but it is still