View report page

17
social backgrounds. One of the schools was subjected to a vigorous antismoking
campaign, the other was used as a control. The smoking habits
of the pupils at the two schools were the same at the beginning of the campaign,
and proved to be the same at the end.
Some feel that the Government might help more but are reluctant to
do so because of a taxation revenue of £600,000,000. Others feel that
advertisement, which entails expenditure of some £20,000,000 a year plays
its part. There again, the question is whether that merely determines
what is smoked rather than that anything is smoked. Rather than to
attempt to get people to give up or not to take up smoking, might the
better line not be to try to attain moderation ? The risk of a moderate
smoker developing cancer of the lung is something greater than that of
the non-smoker. It is though the heavy smoker who is really exposed to
this risk. It is the responsibility of health authorities to ensure that every
adult knows of the association between heavy smoking and cancer of the
lung. A campaign which urged smoking in moderation rather than the
prohibition of smoking in general would probably be easier to conduct
and perhaps be more effective.
Deaths from Infectious Diseases.
There were eleven deaths from tuberculosis and eighteen from
influenza. There were none from measles, whooping cough or poliomyelitis.