View report page

52
Health education activities in schools are carried through to the
secondary stage where, with senior students, the content is extended to
include childbirth, contraception and venereal disease, allied with the
problems of human emotions and relationships.
Talks were made available to secondary schools and youth groups
on smoking, but it is not easy to convince young people with healthy
young bodies of the serious consqeuences of heavy smoking some 30/40
years ahead. The financial approach is one which has more impact—
there is some incredulity when it is suggested that one could deliberately
set fire to £6,500, in pound notes, yet this is the amount of net income
expended by a couple smoking 20 cigarettes a day each over 30 years.
During the year the Principal School Dental Officer completed the
dental health campaign in schools, during which 6,000 children in the
Pinner and Harrow districts received instruction on the care of their
teeth. To achieve maximum impact such a campaign needs the co-operation
of parents and two young wives' clubs accepted the invitation of a talk
arranged in co-operation with the Oral Hygiene Service.
Apart from routine publicity in clinics and other Council outlets,
exhibitions were arranged in co-operation with the Welfare Section, one
featuring the handicrafts produced by the blind and physically handicapped
and another in support of Physically Handicapped Week, which
showed what can and is being done for the handicapped by the community
and the voluntary services.
During the year the film 'The Health Visitor' was previewed and
presented at a wine and cheese party at Hanover House. This was a
training film sponsored by Messrs. Cow & Gate in co-operation with the
Health Visitors' Association, much of which was filmed in Harrow,
involving Council premises and featuring many members of the Health
Department staff, together with some of Harrow's mothers, children, and
senior citizens. The exercise, apart from being enjoyed by all who participated,
provided a valuable insight into the techniques of film making for
those members of the staff who associated in the production.
Home safety activities included the instruction and examination of
youth organisation members, a number of whom study the subject for
their Duke of Edinburgh Award. Publicity is always prominent at the
clinics. British manufacturers are increasingly aware of their responsibility
towards safety and much is achieved by informal action between the
Home Office and industry, with the result that approved appliances
represent a safe product if properly used. It is not, however, possible to
take action against misuse or abuse within the home. The elderly are, of
course, particularly vulnerable to accidents and talks were given to three
clubs for the elderly, one problem here being that a pensioner cannot
always afford to 'buy for safety'. Following a complaint in respect of the
the sale in Harrow of a potentially dangerous toy gun of foreign manufacture,
details were referred to the Home Office, as a result of which the
distributors agreed to cease importing the offending article.