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These steps were initiated by the late Alderman Cooper, and have
already resulted in an ahhoc organisation being set up to study and
deal with this tremendous problem. As Joint Hon. Secretary, a
position which I was very happy to accept, I have the privilege of
being in constant touch with the work of the Co-ordinating
Committee.
I have no doubt that, when local needs have been fully
assessed, the Committee will be able to integrate the various activities
already being carried out, directing effort into the most effective
channels, and expanding or even creating new services when these
seem to be required. The most urgent service is probably the setting
up of a central bureau or clearing house which will receive
requests for assistance and pass them on to the proper quarters.
This is receiving attention.
From a humanitarian point of view, it is a truism to say that
the aged are our responsibility, both as individuals and as a community.
There is surely no slur, no stigma in growing old; it is
and always should be considered an honoured estate, deserving of
privilege, demanding our sympathetic understanding and assistance.
If, to look on the matter from the most mundane angle, it is equally
true that, unless the problem of the aged can be solved, the national
economy is quite certain to suffer. Our country has an ageing
population, a fact which is nowhere apparent more than in
Southgate.
But surely there is no need to look beyond our duties as
Christian citizens. Let us think of those aged individuals, alone in
their tiny rooms, without friends, without company, sometimes
without comforts, without even the barest necessities of life. Such
thoughts will surely awaken in us a deep sense of responsibility,
a firm determination to see that everything possible is done for a
section of the community which, through no fault of it own, has
lagged behind in the race of life. Southgate has never yet failed
in its obligations. The challenge has already been accepted; with
good-will, energy and enterprise, the problem, great though it be,
will surely be solved.
Laboratory Facilities.
I would again record my appreciation and thanks to the staff
of the Central Public Health Laboratory, both at Colindale and at
Edmonton for their unfailing assistance during the year. Once
again, we did not have to call upon the Laboratory to any great
extent during 1954, owing to the absence of major outbreaks of
infectious disease. It is, however, very satisfactory to remember
that the Public Health Laboratory Service is available to us, and
that any calls we make upon it will be readily and sympathetically
met.
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