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(iii)
Active protection of the child population against diphtheria,
whooping cough, tetanus, smallpox, tuberculosis and poliomyelitis was
continued at a vigorous pace.
Diphtheria.
For the thirteenth year in succession no cases of diphtheria
occurred in Kingston. Outbreaks of the disease occurred in unimmunised
children in some areas which only emphasised the importance of keeping
the child population as highly immunised as possible and particularly
for initial protection to be given in their first year. Parents are
therefore constantly encouraged to take full advantage of the immunisation
service provided and intensive campaigns are carried out to
immunise the school and pre-school population against this disease.
This is done under my direction as Medical Officer of Health as well as
Divisional Medical Officer for North Central Division of Surrey, at the
Surrey County Council Clinics and by General Medical Practitioners.
As at the 31st December, 1960 4,510 Kingston children have been
immunised during the past 5 years for the first time or received reinforcing
"booster" injections. It is calculated that during 1960 the
proportion of Kingston babies immunised before they reached the age of
1 year was 89% Every effort should be made to maintain this very
satisfactory figure.
Housing and Rehousing.
No Corporation housing units were built during 1960. Fortythree
flats and maisonettes, 6 houses and 1 bungalow, were erected by private
enterprise, giving a total of 50 new housing units in Kingston during
the year.
The points mentioned in my previous reports on the question of
housing and rehousing still apply and are emphasized by the Chief
Medical Officer of Health of the Ministry. An extract of his Report
for 1959 Part II Chapter XVIII page 249 follows?-
"It is well known that many of the elderly are unsuitably housed.
They may be remaining in houses which have become too big for their
physical limitations or where the amenities are inadequate or so badly
sited that they are unable to make full use of them. The Rowntree
Committee recommended that five per cent of all dwellings, whether
private or municipal, should be suitable for and available to old
people and an increasing proportion of new housing, usually in the
form of bungalows or flats, is of this type. It is thought that the
older person would be able to retain his independence far longer in
the smaller suitably designed dwelling, particularly where a warder is
appointed to a group of such dwellings.