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27
income. Half of the nett proceeds will be available to the Care
Committee, and the other half will be devoted to the work of
the Association. It is therefore with every optimism that we
look forward to the coming year's work in the field of tuberculosis
after care.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Occupational Therapy home visits totalled 516 between March,
1956 and 1957. During this time there were also 140 attendances
at the weekly class.
The Annual Sale of patients' work in late November realised
over £33, an increase of 50% on last year, and hardly any articles
remained unsold. We are indebted to the Occupational Therapists
at Mayday Hospital for giving us 'houseroom' for the Sale, also
to Mrs. England and Mrs. Fanthorpe who were responsible for the
actual selling.
This year, two patients have been doing regular outwork and
the Occupational Therapist helped in collection and delivery of
the goods, it is thought that some scheme to provide regular
light work would be of great value to some of the permanently
handicapped chest patients. One small business, making simple
toys, was investigated with this idea in mind, but this particular
concern proved unsuitable. It is hoped that further opportunities
for such a scheme may arise.
VENEREAL DISEASES
The usual returns for which I am indebted to J. R. Crumbie,
Esq., P.R. C.S., are set out in the Appendix, page 101.
There is no easy method to discover the prevalence of venereal
diseases in Croydon. The graph which shows the numbers of Croydon
residents who made a first attendance at the Special Clinic
during the last 20 years must be interpreted with caution. Thus,
the apparent fall during the 1949-54 period is due to civilians
only being included. There were very large attendances of noncivilians
comprising the majority of the age groups normally
concerned.
Efforts to limit the spread of venereal diseases have been
two-fold. Firstly, prevention through the advocacy of "clean
living" and Secondly, prompt and effective treatment to render
Patients and contacts non-infectious.
On the whole, it seems likely that the post-war reduction is
true fall in prevalence, due to the speed and efficiency of
antibiotic treatment.