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we would do well to study and review from time to time the part
which health education can play, the contribution it has to offer,
and the uses to which it can be put.
I should now like to return to a subject which I have ventilated
on several occasions, but which cannot be stressed too often or too
strongly. Preventive medicine is, and always will appear unspectacular
to the general public, unless in those isolated instances where
the discovery of a new vaccine or the introduction of important
legislation are focussed in the national press. The day-to-day
measures designed to erect a barrier against the spread of infection
and to encourage positive health, are still taken for granted by too
many people. This, of course, is both illogical and unfortunate, but
the facts are, to some extent, understandable and must be accepted.
When a child develops poliomyelitis or when an adult is rushed
to hospital with acute appendicitis, the whole family is acutely aware
of the emergency, and equally grateful for the remedial measures
undertaken. It is not so with preventive medicine. Too often the
public is supremely oblivious of the work being carried out on its
behalf in the realm of public health. It is here that health education
can and should play such a vital part. There are certainly pitfalls.
We must avoid creating a nation of hypochrondriacs who are constantly
dwelling on the ills which might befall them. We must
equally avoid placing too much stress on aspects of health which
have comparatively little significance. Our duty must be to enlighten
the public on matters which vitally concern them, to choose our
material with loving care, to establish and review from time to time
a programme of priorities. This can be done in several ways.
We should make quite certain that the services available to
the public are fully known and understood. We should draw attention
to factors which have topical interest and are of immediate
significance, e.g. measles and influenza outbreaks, the existence of
food poisoning or dysentery. We should endeavour by every means
available to stress the fundamental principles upon which a healthy
individual and community are based. Lastly, we should try to
concentrate on those age groups and sections of the community
most in need of education in its widest sense, without making the
cardinal mistake of always preaching to the converted, and neglecting
those groups which are most difficult to reach.
Our health education programme in Southgate is, I venture to
say, comprehensive. Apart from the work carried out from day to
day by our Sanitary Inspectors and, so far as the County Council
is concerned, by the Health Visitors, both in the Clinic and in the
home, the Council will be aware that numerous talks and health film
shows are given during the year, while articles appear from time to
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