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that the work of local authorities in the field of
public health is quite rightly being expended. We
must now await with interest, the possible changes
envisaged in any reorganisation of local government
which may come about. Meantime, I think it can be
truthfully said that Friern Barnet has fulfilled its
obligations in "the manner which I have already learnt
it regards as a tradition in the Urban District.
Before concluding this introduction to my
Annual Report, I would refer to two subjects which
very greatly affect the health and well-being of
considerable sections of the community. The first
is housing.
We now know only too well that one of the
most acute factors affecting health and happiness lies
in the housing problems which face so many families
today. It will be obvious that the environmental
conditions under which people have to live and work
exert a most significant bearing on the occurrence of
disease, not only infectious diseases, but also illnesses
in general. Apart from actual disease, we must
equally remember that housing conditions which do not add
up to the standard which the population of such a great
country as ours has a right to expect today, produce
what one might describe as a half-way house, a sombre
hinterland, in which the people may not actually be
suffering from any definable illness, but in which they
could never be said to enjoy a full measure of positive
health. It is extremely difficult to assess the
effect of this lack of robust, positive health in any
section of the community. It must be clear, however,
that happiness, contentment, even the ability to use the
faculties of the body and the mind to their fullest
extent, will, sooner or later be jeopardised. I will
refer to this in more detail in succeeding paragraphs,
but I would meantime stress that this factor, although
admittedly indefinable; is none the less significant.
When dealing with houses, we have to consider
two quite distinct major problems. The first deals
with structural defects, defects affecting the bodies
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