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in the district. As will be noted in the body of the Report, the
infectious diseases picture is also satisfactory.
1949 was the first complete year during which the new regime
inaugurated by the National Health Service Act, 1946 operated.
Reference to the change-over was made in my Annual Report
for 1948. It will suffice to state here that all concerned have
satisfactorily adapted themselves to the new order. So far as
the Public Health Department is concerned, the change has been
considerable.
The Public Health Department now consists of a Medical
Officer of Health and Deputy, both of whom are employed for
the major part of their time on County Council duties. It has
also a Chief Sanitary Inspector, three District Inspectors, a Disinfector,
Assistant Disinfector, Rodent Operator and a clerical
staff of three. At first sight, it might appear that the transfer of
so many duties to the County Council, with the related reduction
in staff, has reduced the importance of the Borough Council's
functions in the field of Public Health to a more or less negligible
quantity. This is very far from being the case.
It might be worth while to consider for a few moments the
duties which the Borough Council has to perform as a Public
Health or Sanitary Authority. There is first of all the vast field
of epidemiology. In the past, epidemiology was mainly concerned
with the study and control of the spread of infectious diseases.
Although this is still an important aspect of the work, it no longer
properly describes the aims and purport of epidemiology. Apart
from receiving notifications of infectious diseases, tracing and
supervising contacts, arranging for disinfection and removal of
cases to hospital, the Borough Council is charged with the very
much wider duties of investigating all causes of illness, whether
infectious or non-infectious, to be found within the Borough boundaries.
It will thus be seen that every factor which affects the
health of the individual or of the community properly comcs
within the ambit of epidemiology. If this were our only duty as
a Public Health Authority, it would thus be clear that our responsibilities
are onerous. In point of fact, however, the work of the
Borough Council as a Public Health Authority does not by any
means end there.
The Public Health Department is concerned with housing, as
it affects health. It is also concerned with the inspection of meat
and other foodstuffs, with particular emphasis on milk and icecream.
It deals with shops and factories, with rodent control, with
pollution of the atmosphere, and with the investigation and eradication
of all the varied types of nuisances which can and do affect
individual and communal health. The Public Health Department
is also keenly interested in health education, and has not slackened
its efforts in this important field since the 5th July, 1948. Mention
4