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8
It is usually only after some fifteen to twenty years of smoking that a cancer develops, but it is
advisable to take no risk at all; talks are therefore given to school children in their early teens, when the
environment to start smoking is favourable and the temptation strong. Visual aids are also used to explain
clearly how smoking causes respiratory disease. It is hoped by these means to prevent young people smoking
and so develop a habit which is difficult to break.
X-ray examinations are effective in discovering early cases of tuberculosis and cancer, but not of
bronchitis.
Following a report from the Chest Physician that 12 cases of tuberculosis had been notified in
Mitchell Way, Stonebridge, over the past five years, the Mass X-ray Unit carried out a survey of the residents,
after they had been visited by a health visitor and invited to co-operate and a small leaflet had been
left in every house advertising when the Unit would come to the street. 112 people were X-rayed but no
active cases of chest disease were found.
Treatment
The treatment of cancer of the lung is still in its infancy. There is no shortage of hospital beds at
present despite the increasing number of cases, because fewer beds are now needed for tuberculosis. Beds
for bronchitis sufferers are now also being provided at the sanatoria.
T uberculosis
Tuberculosis creates a special problem because of its infectious nature; nearly a fifth of the deaths
over the past 6 years occurred in elderly men previously unknown to the health authorities. They obviously
form a small but significant minority of the population, difficult to discover before they have infected others.
Because of the presence of this infection, B.C.G. vaccination of school leavers is an important
preventive measure for raising their resistance to infection at a time when the risk of infection is higher and
many new stresses have to be faced. Fewer children (Table 24) were tuberculin tested in 1959; about 80 per
cent. were found to need B.C.G., and of these 91 per cent. accepted vaccination.
Tuberculin testing of the younger children also continued and the results appear in Table 23. There
was a slight decline in the proportion reacting but over the years there has been a marked decline in school
children, particularly entrants, reflecting the general reduction of tuberculosis in the community. In 1953
children usually came in contact with infection before they entered school but today most of them do so
during their school life.
Factories and workshops
Six factories were visited by the Medical Officer and 37 immediate contacts of active cases were
encouraged to attend for examination by the Mass X-ray Unit at the Central Middlesex Hospital. One case
with tuberculous scarring in the left upper zone was discovered and referred to her private medical practitioner
for treatment. Ten factories were revisited at six-monthly intervals to encourage contacts of old cases
to re-attend for examination; 202 workers went to the Central Middlesex Hospital. Three cases with slight
abnormalities were found but the lung fields were clear and the heart normal and no further action was
necessary.
Co-operation
With diseases of wide social implications, such as tuberculosis, bronchitis and cancer, it is essential
for all concerned—Chest Physician, Medical Officer of Health, Welfare Officers, Disablement Resettlement
Officer and Health Visitors—to work as a team.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA
Water
The Metropolitan Water Board and the Colne Valley Water Company supply Willesden with pure
water.
Sewage and drainage
Most of the sewage of the borough is discharged into the London County Council main sewers, but a
small amount from the Park Royal area is discharged into the West Middlesex Main Drainage system.
Refuse disposal
The Borough Engineer's Department deals with the provision of dustbins.
Refuse is disposed of by controlled tipping at Yiewsley; house refuse is collected weekly and trade
refuse as often as required at an agreed charge.
Household arrangements
The census report for the County of Middlesex 1951 and the Housing Report for England and Wales
showed clearly Willesden's housing problems as compared with the rest of the county (see report for 1956).
(a) Shared dwellings and overcrowding
About six out of ten households in Willesden share a dwelling. This is higher than the average for
the county and for Greater London (about three out of ten) and much higher than England and Wales (less
than two out of ten).
The number of persons per room is higher than that of Greater London, England and Wales, and
any district in the county, and the percentage of population and of households at densities over 1½ and 2
persons per room is the highest in the county, in some instances the percentage is more than double.