View report page

7
of incidence of this complaint which started in 1947, and which has been
seen since, perhaps little advantage would have been taken by those in
this country of any facilities for immunising children against this disease,
even had it been decided that they should be offered. When the disease
became nation-wide in prevalence, public concern rose to a level out of
all proportion to the importance of this complaint as compared with
other illnesses or conditions causing deaths or disabilities. The arrangements
made for immunising children against this disease have been a
chapter of mis-handling and misfortune which has caused so much
inconvenience to the general medical practitioners who are helping to get
the population treated.
Part of the report deals with some matters which are this year of
special local interest. One of these is clean air. This district is fortunate
in that there are few industries producing smoke, and in many houses
smokeless fuel is already being consumed. It is, therefore, comparatively
free from atmospheric pollution. This fact should be an incentive to
action to remove what pollution there is. Many authorities have already
taken steps to designate parts of their district as smoke control areas, so
Harrow seems backward as it has not been in a position to do anything
on these lines. This is because of shortage of staff, the result of the
difficulty in filling vacancies which has been caused partly by the effect
of the introduction of the new salary scales in September of last year.
The surveys which are necessary to provide the information before any
part of the district can be designated as a smoke control area cannot be
carried out. Fortunately other measures, such as the education of the
public on the general question of clean air, are not held up. A step
forward in the slum clearance scheme was taken during the year when
the enquiry was held into the Northolt Road clearance area proposals.
Although the Minister did not confirm the Council's proposals made with
a view to the redevelopment of the area, he confirmed most of the Orders
involving the condemnation of the unfit houses in the locality. Apart
from this large group of houses, many others have been dealt with in
small groups, and by the end of the year action had been started on quite
a number of houses listed in the Council's slum clearance proposals.
These proposals will have to be revised, as the owners of quite numbers
of houses are now deciding that it is worth their while carrying out the
works necessary to make them fit for habitation.
A number of subjects are mentioned, not because they are of more
interest or importance here than elsewhere, nor because it is possible to
do anything much about them, but because they are amongst the greatest
killers, and the time must surely come when our knowledge will point to
some preventive action being taken. In the case of cancer of the lung,
this is partly a matter of atmospheric pollution but much more so one
of cigarette smoking. The question of education of the public on cancer,
not merely of cancer of the lung, is something about which a decision
must soon be taken. Coronary thrombosis, that complaint which kills
°ff so many in their prime and maims many more, is a subject on which
much work is being done, though as yet not enough is known of its
stiology to warrant advice being given suggesting marked changes in the
hvmg habits of the population. The Windscale accident emphasised the