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medical attention can be given, other than to the principles of
nutrition. In my opinion this relationship should be re-established
and maintained as it was one of the greatest contributions
to the achievement of positive health that could be made. This
was singularly so in the case of the School Medical Services under
the 1921 Act.
On the other hand the field available for the treatment of
patients is much wider, not only are the Medical Staff now concerned
with the Juvenile population but also with the entire family
unit. It is clear that a wider field is covered by problems connected
with the aged, and that research in this direction is not purely of
academic interest. Study of the aged is of practical importance,
and has a direct bearing on problems in the family, in the clinic,
and in the school, no less than upon the daily activities of adult
life.
Health problems which present themselves from the family
standpoint and the means by which we will tend to solve them,
serve to indicate the importance of the contribution which the new
social services can make to health in the home.
William Osier said "If you have the good fortune to command
a large clinic, remember that one of your chief duties is the
tabulation and analysis of the carefully recorded experience. Keep
and compare your observations, study them, tabulate them, seek
the points of contact that may reveal the underlying law. Some
things can only be learned by statistical comparison." This is the
policy which the Health Department endeavoured to practise over
the last sixteen years.
If we regard our District as our Clinic and consider the health
and well-being of our population as a whole, as well as individually,
we will soon find many problems to solve. Not the least among
these is the housing of those who need it so badly.
In the past housing was generally considered from an economic
and indeed sometimes from a political standpoint. The circumstances
which now present themselves to us clearly demonstrate
that housing is a very important factor in the attainment of positive
health. The difficulties that present themselves with the establishment
of a housing policy now-a-days are neither economic
or political. Such could easily be eliminated—the difficulty lies
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