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7
a material contribution to the general health of the people. The
next factor which comes to my mind is the very satisfactory
position revealed in the report of the Manager of the local branch
of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, with regard to
employment in the district. It is obviously necessary to have a
high level of employment if families are to avoid worries and
anxieties and also to attain the highest possible standard of
nutrition, which is so essential if sound health is to be maintained.
The reasons so far adduced for the good health of Orpington
are of a somewhat general character, but if you will bear with me
for a little longer, I should like to add one or two others of a rather
more specific nature, which have been operative in the past year.
Firstly, I think of the new Food Hygiene Regulations in the
application of which such great strides have been made during the
year, with, it must be acknowledged gratefully, the full co-operation
of the trade. The Clean Air Act also became law at the end of the
year, but the Council have not as yet had the time to determine
their policy with regard to one of its main provisions, that is, the
possible setting up of smoke control areas within the district. This
is a complicated business which cannot be undertaken without
exhaustive enquiries and consideration.
I must also refer shortly to the commencement of the County
Council's scheme for vaccination against anterior poliomyelitis.
Although this operation could only be undertaken in a small way
during 1956, a beginning has been made to a positive attack on
this disease, and we await future developments with considerable
hope and expectation.
Having dealt with the bright side of things at some length, it
is only fair to add that everything is of course not perfect. For
instance, I note with some disquiet that the number of deaths from
cancer of the lung has risen from 23 in 1955 to 34 in 1956, and in
view of the undoubted statistical association between this disease
and tobacco smoking, I feel that the public should be made aware
ot this association on every possible occasion.
Another matter to which brief reference should be made is that
although substantial progress has been made in the last few years
in abolishing cesspools and making the necessary connections to
main drainage, there are still far too many of the former in
existence. Somewhat similar remarks could be made with reference
to main water supplies, but here the problem is of very much
smaller dimensions and in both these fields the Public Health
Inspectors have been very active. For the first time ever in an
Annual Report, I refer to Public Health Inspectors who became
so designated by an Act of Parliament of 1955. The name