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type of infectious disease, which even the present generation can
still remember. Thus, scarlet fever is known to have been extremely
mild in the latter half of the nineteenth century. After quite an
appreciable period, the severity of scarlet fever increased, until it
again became a serious disease, capable of causing dangerous
complications and even death. We have no reason to believe that
this transmutation may not again occur. While taking advantage
of the present mild character of so many infectious diseases, we
must therefore be prepared for an increase in virulence.
The second point to which I would refer is the fact that
epidemiology can now be regarded as covering all types of illness
which can affect either the individual or the community.
It is certainly a fact that, in a district such as Southgate, one
does not expect either occupational diseases or complaints specifically
associated with factory conditions. Nor do the housing
standards lend themselves to being regarded as possible culprits,
even having regard to the housing waiting list and the degree of
overcrowding which exists within the Borough. In other words, the
problem of epidemiology, in the modern concept of the term, is
again national rather than local so far as Southgate is concerned.
In company with their counterparts in Lancashire or the Midlands,
the majority of our burgesses are subjected to the quickened tempo
of life, to the added stresses and strains which are being shown in
the rapid increases in psycho-somatic diseases.
Many of these same residents are being further subjected to
travelling conditions which should have a very serious effect upon
their health, but which, on the evidence available, cannot be regarded
as a live occupational hazard. We can exercise an extremely
limited control over such matters, except to do everything within
our power to make our Borough a pleasant place in which to live
and work. If we do so, paying due attention to the factories, workshops
and shops within our boundaries, and making equally certain
that the leisure time of our burgesses is being fully catered for,
both by outdoor and indoor recreations, it would seem that we
will be making a worth-while contribution to this quite serious
problem.
This matter may be very closely linked with the remarks which
I set out in the section of this Report which deals with social conditions
in the area. Our duty, which is to ensure that the first-rate
character of the Borough is maintained by all practicable means,
will be more than ever clear. If this matter receives proper and
constant attention, there is no doubt that we will be achieving
something substantial in the way of removing conditions which prejudice
health and which encourage both dis-ease and disease. This
is a task which is still well within our compass, and to which energy
and initiative might well be applied.
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