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5
seeking fundamental causes and the application of established
knowledge in prevention and early treatment.
As regards some forms of cancer, the Clean Air Act of 1956
will bring benefits. This is only one aspect of the most important
single health measure to be passed during the present century.
It will be remembered that the incident which finally
brought public opinion to demand such action was the London "smog"
of 1952. Now that we are beginning the long frustrating period
when the distant goal is obscured by present inconveniences and
heavy expenses inseparable from a major revolution in habits of
living, the findings and recommendations of the Beaver report
are worth repeating:-
November, 2954.
"In presenting this Report we wish to state our emphatic
belief that air pollution on the scale with which we are
familiar in this country today is a social and economic evil
which should no longer be tolerated, and that it needs to be
combated with the same conviction and energy as were applied
one hundred years ago in securing pure water. We are convinced
that given the will it can be prevented. To do this
will require a national effort and will entail costs and
sacrifices; the recommendations made in this Report will
involve expenditure by the Government, local authorities,
industry and householders alike. But we are confident that
our proposals, if carried out, will secure happier and more
healthy living conditions for millions of people, and that
on all counts the cost of the cure will be far less than the
national loss in allowing the evil to continue.
We are satisfied that the most serious immediate problem
to be tackled is visible pollution by smoke, grit and dust,
and we have been able to make definite recommendations in
regard to these. We must emphasise that the problem is not
one which can be solved overnight. Real improvement can be
secured only by a continuous programme urgently and insistently
carried out over a number of years. The objective of
our recommendations is that by the end of ten to fifteen
years the total smoke in all heavily populated areas would
be reduced by something of the order of 80 per cent. This
would mean a degree of freedom from air pollution which many
parts of the country have not known for more than a century.
With regard to gaseous pollution, there is not yet the knowledge
to deal effectively with the whole problem; but we