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preventive and curative, is necessary if the disease is to be
finally conquered. The Minister of Health has now prepared
a memorandum which accompanied Circular No. 8/54 in
which he "indicates a need for intensifying various preventive
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 Mass Miniature
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 our own 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 Urban District 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.
The Food and Drugs (Amendment) Bill at present before
Parliament may also place further responsibilities on the
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