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6
To the Chairman and Members of the
Orpington Urban District Council.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
"I couldn't care less." Perhaps this may seem an odd way to
open a report such as this, but the expression does summarise the
attitude of some people to some of the hazards and tribulations of
our everyday life. The overall picture of Orpington's health is
bright and cheerful, but a careless attitude could lead to trouble, and
this risk is not by any means a local one only. One's thoughts turn
instinctively to such matters as smoking, immunisation, vaccination,
accidents and clean food, and one is immediately conscious of the
fact that, although much has been done to publicise these very
important public health concerns, yet the attitude towards them has
in too many instances been one of inertia rather than urgency. No
apology is needed for stressing once again the now well known
association between smoking and cancer of the lung, and yet I have
a rather hopeless feeling that any appeal however impassioned will
once more fall on deaf ears. It is a fact, and one that is recorded
with guarded satisfaction, that there was a fall in the number of
deaths from this disease during 1960, but one would have to see a
steady year-by-year decline in the death rate before any real and
and lasting satisfaction could be expressed. This is also the occasion
and opportunity to mention a small reduction in the number of
deaths from cancer in other parts of the body, a trend which I would
also like to see continued in the coming years.
Immunisation against diphtheria and vaccination against
anterior poliomyelitis are other very important public health
measures which if taken seriously, can make a big contribution to
the future health of our people. Unfortunately they are too often
being neglected, with sad consequences to the affected families.
Although diphtheria has been near during the past year, we have
fortunately avoided it once again in this district, but immunity from
its ravages cannot be expected unless a substantial proportion of our
children are immunised against this disease. Because we were lucky
enough to avoid anterior poliomyelitis entirely during the year under
review, there is no reason for complacency, and everyone under the
age of 40, is strongly urged to take advantage, by a course of injections,
of the protection offered against this disease. Here again
failure to take action in time, will inevitably lead to future unnecessary
cases of this disease arising.
Frequent reference has been made in previous reports to the
unnecessary loss of life due to accidents, and stressing the need to
take every reasonable precaution both in the home and on the roads.
The mention of accidents should remind us of a hazard which has