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54
Action of the Society of Medical Officers of Health.—
It may not be out of place to mention here that I brought the
subject of the foregoing resolutions under the notice of the Society
of Medical Officers of health on the 18th March, and that the
Society, by an unanimous vote, resolved as follows:—
i. "The Society adheres to the views it has previously expressed with respect to
notification of infectious diseases to Sanitary Authorities, and re-affirms
the resolutions passed in December, 1876, viz.:—
(a) 'That in the opinion of the Society, whenever a case of infectious disease
occurs in any house or vessel, it should be a legal obligation on the person
in¬charge of the house or vessel, or on the person in charge of the
case, to report the fact to the Sanitary Authority without delay.
(b) "That it should be a legal obligation on every Medical practitioner in
attendance on any such case, to give immediate written information
respecting its nature to the occupier or other person responsible for reporting
it to the Sanitary Authority.'
1. "The Society sees no reason to depart from its recorded opinion that the hospital
treatment of infectious diseases should be dissevered from any relation
with pauperism, and re-affirms the views on the subject expressed in a
Report of the Council adopted April 20th, 1877, and in the resolution of
the Society passed in November, 1878.
[The Report of the Council expressed agreement 'with the opinion of the
Managers of the Asylum Board that adequate provision for the isolation
and treatment of epidemic infectious diseases in the Metropolis does not
exist; and under existing circumstances the Society endorses the conclusion
that such provision could be best made in a comprehensive and
systematic manner by one central authority acting for the whole Metropolis.
As regards the constitution of the authority and the administration
of the infectious disease hospitals, the Society is of opinion that
such hospitals, regarded in the light of a sanitary provision for the advantage
of the general population, should be completely dissevered from
any relation with pauperism.']
The resolution referred to was as follows:—
(c) "That this Society is of opinion that the assistance afforded to the sick in
hospitals for the treatment of infectious diseases, and aid given for
other sanitary purposes, ought not to be considered to be pauper relief,
and that this is a matter to which the attention of the Local Government
Board should be directed.