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23.3, and for 1952, 37.5. There has thus been a satisfactory
decline over the past three years. I would again stress,
however, that it would be extremely dangerous to draw any
far-reaching conclusions from these figures. Both the
period'and totals are much too small to warrant any such
action.
It has been my custom to include in my Annual Report,
a brief statement on health education. This year, I should
like to incorporate a more lengthy statement in the introductory
section of the report, since it is becoming more and more
obvious that health education is playing an essential part in
preventive medicine and therefore deserves priority.
The significance of health education in the vast
field of public health is now accepted. It has been stated
that we are still only in the experimental phase of health
education. We certainly have much to learn, both as to
method and content. Be that as it may, we would do well to
study and review from time to time the part which health
education can play, the contribution it has to offer, and
the uses to which it can be put.
I should now like to return to a subject which I
have ventilated on several occasions, but which cannot be
stressed too often or too strongly. Preventive medicine is
and always will appear unspectacular to the general public,
unless in those isolated instances where the discovery of a
new vaccine or the introduction of important legislation are
focussed in the national press. The day-to-day measures
designed to erect a barrier against the spread of infection
and to encourage positive health, are still taken for
granted by too many people. This, of course, is both
illogical and unfortunate, but the facts are to some extent
understandable and must be accepted.
When a child develops poliomyelitis, or when an
adult is rushed to hospital with acute appendicitis, the
whole family is acutely aware of the emergency, and equally
grateful for the remedial measures undertaken. It is not
so with preventive medicine. Too often the public is
supremely oblivious of the work being carried out on its
behalf in the realm of public health. It is here that
health education can and should play such a vital part.
There are certainly pitfalls. We must avoid creating a
nation of hypochondriacs who are constantly dwelling on the
ills which might befall them. We must equally avoid
placing too much stress on aspects of health which have
comparatively little significance. Our duty must be to
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