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through further centralisation of administration. The work of
separate branches may be excellent, but the full value of their
work depends on the information acquired in one branch being
readily available by all other branches so that "team work" is
possible. In the same way medical records of cases should be
continuous, and should be transferred from branch to branch or
from medical officer to medical officer.
The nature and scope of Public Health work have altered
greatly in recent years and the change of name alone, from
"sanitary" to "public health," is an indication of the new
aims and ideals. It is no longer sufficient to confine attention
to sanitation and abatement of nuisances. The health of the
individual citizen as well as that of the community as a whole
must be safeguarded, and the only way to achieve this is to
educate the individual as to health.
This change of attitude in public health matters has been
partly brought about by the labours and discoveries of medical
research workers who are adding almost daily to our knowledge
of disease. Diseases which were formerly regarded as conditions
to be alleviated or cured by drugs alone, are now known to be
caused by the absence of certain vital elements in the organs of
the human body or in diet. In this respect the recent work on
the chemistry of the pancreas has led to the use of insulin in the
treatment of diabetes, and research work on food stuffs has
revealed the necessity for the presence of vitamines. Bacteriology
has also added to our knowledge of the prevention and
treatment of diseases by the use of vaccines and sera. The
discovery of the cause of disease is frequently followed by the
discovery of the means to prevent and cure the disease, and
several of the more dread diseases have practically been stamped
out by following this line of investigation.
The position of public health workers in regard to such
advances in Medical Science is one of educating and assisting
the public to realise what health actually is and how medical
advice should be sought even for trifling ailments. It is only by
studying the beginnings of a disease that a full knowledge of the
disease may be obtained which may lead to the discovery of the
cure. It is, therefore, by linking up the records of antenatal
work with infant welfare work and, by passing such records to
the school medical service, to juvenile employment bureaus, and
ultimately to the panel medical practitioners, that the best
results can be attained.
It is difficult for anyone not actually engaged in public
health work to realise the ignorance that prevails in regard to
health. The teaching of simple physiology in public elementary
schools is undoubtedly of service, but before this knowledge can
be applied it is too often forgotten, or put on one side, in the
more serious business of wage-earning. Modern social and
economic conditions have unfortunately done much to prevent
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