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Venereal Disease
It has been observed that new cases of gonorrhoea in males are
proportionately higher among Asians. There is a need for health education in this
respect. Any community whose structure consists of a large number of men without
their families can be expected to have a high venereal disease rate. The immigrant
community in Southall in its early days was of such a structure. Latterly the arrival
of families is producing a more normal structure, and with this a fall in the venereal
disease rate can be anticipated.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
The Clinic Service
The bulk of the Asian population attends Northcote Clinic, Southall, which is
the nearest to the main Asian housing area. Substantial numbers however attend
other clinics in Southall and are represented at all clinics in the Borough. The
presence of a high proportion of Asian immigrants among attenders slows down the
pace of the work undertaken due to language difficulties, confusion about names
and also problems of unpunctuality. The Asian concept of time differs from that of
the Northern European races; not only do they have difficulty in keeping appointments
at the right time of day, but they become confused over the days of the week and the
weeks of the month.
In general, immigrants are anxious to secure the maximum benefits available
to their children and, in their eagerness, do not clearly distinguish the different
roles of the members of the clinic staff but endeavour to ask an opinion on the same
subject from everyone that they meet there.
Problems of communication require adjustment on the part of the clinic staff
who need to become used to receiving intimate details of a female patient's medical
history from her husband and to talk to him about her as a child might be talked
about, rather than in the way an adult European woman would expect. Although
language barriers have been broken down by the appointment of interpreters the
health visitors are still handicapped in their dealings with Asian mothers as they are
unable to establish the same degree of rapport that they would obtain by direct
communication. The level of discussion is thus more simple than that which obtained
with the English population. It is not possible to discuss emotional difficulties in
the mother or the finer psychological points of child management through an interpreter.
English Mothers
There is a tendency for English mothers in Southall to think that all our efforts
are being devoted to the immigrants. In order to remove this impression it is intended
to set Northcote Clinic aside for them at regular intervals for talks, discussions and
demonstrations. English speaking immigrant mothers will be welcome but the
invitations are being extended to the 'minority mothers' first.
Maternity Services
The home conditions in Asian households are generally unsuitable for
domiciliary confinement because of lack of space and facilities. During 1966, there
were 424 Asian babies born, of which only two were born at home.The reasons for
hospital bookings were medical in 98 cases and social in 324.
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