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Public Health Department,
Elmfield House,
High Street,
Teddington.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Twickenham.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my current Annual Report on the health and
sanitary conditions of the Borough. The report contains as a supplement the
statistical tables for the year 1951 as required by the Ministry of Health.
A glance at the tables in the appendix will show the vast and important
field covered in environmental health and the volume of work done. The
figures show that on the whole the health of the population of the Borough is
good and the sanitary circumstances, with a few exceptions, are satisfactory.
The outstanding problem is, of course, the heavy overcrowding in many of
the houses.
The Medical Officer of Health cannot limit his interest to the field of
environmental health alone. As Area Medical Officer I am concerned with a
great many other public health functions now administered by the County
Council, and as the health of the population is in a sense indivisible, my various
duties are really different ways of looking at the same objective, which is to have
the healthiest population possible.
The Annual Report affords an opportunity for the Medical Officer to give
some account of what he is thinking about. For a long time I have thought
how necessary it is to try to determine the causes of the variation in health
among school children and to try to institute measures for preventing subnormal
health amongst them. In the body of the report I have given an account
of some of the problems inherent in such an investigation.
I beg to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Chairman and members of
the Public Health Committee for their helpfulness and support, which is always
of the greatest encouragement. I desire also to acknowledge with thanks the
friendly co-operation and help which I have always received from my colleagues
in the other departments of the Corporation and the other members of the
Council.
I am,
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN MADDISON,
Medical Officer of Health.
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