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6
Housing.
This remains a major problem. The building programme cannot
compete with the demand and there remains very little available land
for this purpose.
Many properties have nearly reached the end of their useful life
and in normal times would be scheduled for demolition. As things
are today, these houses are kept weatherproof and in such state of
repair that they provide useful dwellings.
It is unfortunate that such low standards of housing must now
be accepted; but how much pleasanter it must be to occupy a separate
dwelling than live in overcrowded conditions with the inevitable
family quarrels and resulting mental ill-health.
The time for Slum clearance has not yet arrived, and there is
no doubt that these conditions must be tolerated for a number of years
to come.
Prevalence of, and control over, infectious, and other diseases.
There was an epidemic of measles and a rather high incidence
of whooping cough. However, these compared favourably with other
parts of the country and there were no deaths. Only 10 cases of
measles and four cases of whooping cough were severe enough to
require admission to hospital.
Two cases of poliomyelitis occurred—both were adults. A man
aged 21 was left with some weakness of the left leg, but otherwise
made a good recovery. A woman aged 27 made a complete recovery
without any paraylsis. Both cases were treated at the South Middlesex
Fever Hospital.
The incidence of scarlet fever was high, the notification rate
being 2.08 per thousand population compared with a rate of 1.11 for
the country as a whole. The reason for this is not clear since the
cases were fairly evenly distributed over the district without significant
concentration in any particular school or locality. The prevailing
type of scarlet fever is mild and undiagnosed cases may well play
their part in its spread. Home isolation of cases is permitted and, in
fact, encouraged, wherever facilities are reasonably satisfactory.