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HEALTH PROPAGANDA
The importance of the education of the public in matters of health has become
increasingly realised during the past few years, and there are many new methods of
propaganda which have been devised to reach the public ear or eye.
Throughout the year the Staff of the Department continued this work and poster
publicity, talks to individuals, talks to small groups, talks to larger groups, some of them
illustrated with film strip pictures, were continuous throughout the year. Special subjects
for poster publicity were influenza, smoke abatement, anti-diphtheria immunisation and
clean food, as these points became topical.
A campaign in the spring of the year was organised by the Ministry of Health for a
nation-wide drive for anti-diphtheria immunisation, because of the dangerous drop in the
numbers of parents bringing their children to be immunised. The local health authority
co-operated with the local sanitary authority in this, and new posters, film slides, and
leaflets on the subject were given as wide distribution as possible.
The question of smoke abatement having become very urgent as a result of the great
fog of December, 1952, part of the year was devoted to special work in the education of
the public against unnecessary smoke emission, the use of smokeless fuel and special
appliances for burning this material were advocated and advice given to boiler house stokers
and railway engine firemen in an effort to reduce smoke from factories and railway sidings.
There was a continued drive for the improvement of the food handling and distribution
in the Borough, and shops, canteens, catering establishments, and hawkers were encouraged
to bring their standards not only up to those recommended in the bye-laws for this purpose
but beyond.
At a seminar held by the Central Council for Health Education in London, Medical
Officers from all types of authorities gathered to exchange information and ideas on the
subject of health education in a sanitary authority. It was interesting to compare the
results obtained by different methods of approach to health education and many helpful
suggestions have since been adopted within this Borough. It is believed that certain ideas
of our own were useful to other authorities.
Public Health information continued to be published in the Council's Civic News
Sheet in the form of an alphabet of hygiene. This magazine, which is issued free of cost,
has a considerable circulation, as it is sent to all voluntary organisations in addition to
being available to those members of the public who wish to receive it.
For the Mass X-ray Unit visit publicity was concentrated during some weeks prior
to the date of commencement to give notice of the facilities offered; handbills were delivered
to every household, poster publicity and newspaper publicity were also used for this
campaign.
The very high figures for home accidents which had been recently publicised gave
rise to concern about this matter. As all home accidents are preventable, this seemed a
very important subject for health education, and a request was made to the local medical
practitioners, to the medical directors of local hospitals and to other persons likely to have
knowledge of accidents occurring in the home and resulting in disability of slight or serious
nature or even in death to notify the Public Health Department of such cases coming to
their knowledge. The response was fair but rather uneven and it would be difficult to
express any opinion on the results of the notifications supplied as yet. Of 42 home accidents
reported, no less than 13 were burns or scalds, mostly due to pulling over a teapot or boiling
kettle or milk saucepan, 11 were fractures caused by falls in the home, and 3 of these resulted
in death. 3 were drug poisoning cases. It seems most probable that every one of these
burns and fractures and several of the other accidents, as detailed in the home accidents
table, page 49, were due to a little carelessness or a little haste, too much polish on a floor
causing someone to fall down stairs, or some other easily preventable occurrence, and it
seems there is a considerable need for continuous education in this field.
An Anti-Litter Campaign was suggested by the Public Health Committee as a suitable
method of obtaining cleaner streets. The gross carelessness of the public with regard
to the keeping of the streets clear from Utter, while not always likely to cause danger to
health, may do so in a number of ways, as cartons and paper wrappings of food dropped
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