View report page

2
" This is a clear and bright water free from odour
and taste and neutral in re-action. It is hard in character,
free from metals and contains no excess of saline matter.
Both organically and bacteriologically the water is
of a high degree of purity and is a pure and wholesome
water suitable for public supply purposes."
12 samples were also taken by us and submitted for
examination. The reports were in every case satisfactory.
Diphtheria Prophylaxis.
The position remains reasonably satisfactory. A careful
estimate of numbers immunised showed 72% in the under 5 group
and 72% in the 5-15 year group. Health. Visitors have been
actively engaged in propaganda and the number of positive refusals
to accept this treatment are gratifyingly small. The birthday
card scheme promises good results in the under 5 group and we
may anticipate a steady rise in the percentage immunised in this
group. The district has shared in the country wide decrease in
Diphtheria, which position is, in my opinion, mainly attributable
to the immunisation campaign. Efforts are continuing to increase
the number immunised and I am not satisfied that we have yet
reached the total that could, and should, be protected.
Scabies.
Once again the co-operation of Civil Defence personnel must
be gratefully acknowledged. During the year some 303 cases
and contacts have been treated. Little persuasion is now needed
to get people to undergo treatment and recurrences have been
infinitesimal in number.
Although this report refers to 1944 it is now appropriate to
refer to the valuable services rendered to the Public Health of this
district by Civil Defence personnel, as by the time this report is
printed Civil Defence will have officially stood down. Mention
has already been made of the work done in connection with Scabies,
where the clinic has been staffed entirely by volunteers from the
First Aid Post personnel. Another outstanding example to which
the attention of the Council has recently been drawn is the Ambulance
Service, during the whole of the war years worked entirely
by Civil Defence personnel. It should be recorded that never has
the district been so well served with Ambulance services, and this
fact is recognised by the written and spoken thanks of those residents
who have had occasion to use the Service. The number
dealt with in 1944 was 794, and 3 maternity cases have been
successfully dealt with during transit in the ambulance.