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counted as an infantile death - although the underlying cause
may be the same in each case. As time goes on and more and more
is found out about the causes of these infant deaths, it will
be possible to introduce the necessary measures for their
prevention; that time is still apparently some distance away,
but in the meantime careful research into each case, together
with patient assimilation of facts is essential.
Infectious disease has presented nc great problem. Once
again there has been no case of diphtheria and once again I
must reiterate that this position will only remain as it is, if
full advantage is taken by parents of the facilities available
for the immunisation of their children. Facilities are freely
available either through the family doctor or at the local
health authority clinic. Diphtheria has been absent from the
community so long that very few people now remember its horrors,
and in fact the position is that comparatively few of the
younger doctors have seen a case. It should be remembered that
diphtheria is a killing disease and it could well reappear in
the community if the level of immunisation is not kept up.
Similarly there was no case of smallpox in the district and
situated as we are in close proximity to an international
airport, this in my opinion is largely a matter of luck.
Sooner or later a case of smallpox will arise in the district
and the only way of dealing with such an event will be by
vaccination of all contacts. The first vaccination in an adult
is a painful and serious procedure whereas revaccination is
not. I therefore say once again that the wisest course is to
have infants vaccinated in their early months. Infant vaccination
is a comparatively trivial procedure and a vaccinated
infant is then prepared to accept revaccination at any
subsequent date without difficulty. Apart from revaccination
possibly being necessary in the event of a smallpox outbreak,
it is also very frequently necessary in these days of international
travel and of course in certain cases during service
in the armed forces. During 1957 a good deal of progress was
made with the scheme for the protection of children from six
months to fifteen years against poliomyelitis the results of
this work already show great promise and it may well be that
poliomyelitis can be made as rare as is diphtheria today.
Further progress was made in the work of food hygiene and
in securing a general improvement in the conditions in which
food is handled. Food hygiene regulations are a great help in
this work but it is very little use securing that food offered
for sale is clean and wholesome if an equal effort is not made
by the purchaser to keep it so. Food hygiene must be continued
from the shop into the domestic larder, on to the consumer's
dining table, and into the domestic kitchen sink. Most modern
houses have the necessary facilities and equipment and they
should be properly used.
There is one aspect of preventative health work which may
offer in the future a field for the prevention of much illhealth
and suffering. This is in the prevention of accidents
occurring in the home, whether from burning scalding tripping
or other avoidable causes. The universal use of fireguards over
gas. electric and open fires would, in itself prevent a large
number of deaths and injuries every year.
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