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Medical Arrangements for Long-stay Immigrants
Local authorities are informed of the destination addresses of immigrants arriving in this country,
sothat they can be visited by the public health inspector or health visitor and given general information
about the health services and persuaded to get themselves and their dependents registered with general
medical practitioners with a view particularly to chest X-ray where this is appropriate.
The scheme was put into operation during the first quarter of 1965. 805 notifications were received
during the year, 397 (49.3 per cent) of which were contacted.
Experience has shown that the rate of contact is unlikely to exceed one half of the total. The
main reasons for non-contact are either the incorrect and/or accommodation address, where the immigrant
is unknown or no further information can be obtained, or removal to another place without leaving a
forwarding address. More of the latter might be located were it not for the heavy pressure of other work
on the staff concerned, who are often obliged to postpone the visit for two to three weeks. Difficulties
have also occurred over the unusual names of some of the immigrants.
Some measure of the extent of immigration may be gathered from an investigation into the November
births which revealed that 99 out of the 404 babies born during that month were coloured.

NOTE The recommended age for primary smallpox vaccination is now between one and two years, which
explains the high total in this age group. In the clinic, infants under one year are not vaccinated
except for some special indication, usually travel abroad, which is most frequently West Indian
or African families returning to their own countries.