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HEALTH EDUCATION
The importance of never ceasing education of the public in matters of hygiene
was high lighted in 1964 when Aberdeen one of the cleanest cities in the country
was disgraced by an outbreak of typhoid fever Although the blame for the ori
ginal infection has now been allocated to the faulty washing habits of canning
factory workers in a foreign country in which corned beef had been tinned and
subsequently sent to this country for sale it is clear that the second and third
waves of infected cases need not have occurred if perfect hygienehad been main
tainedinthe households containing primary cases or in the canteens restaurants
or other food establishments where food was handled
For years emphasis has been placed on the importance of washing the hands
before touching food or food utensils an excellent habit practiced ritually
by the Indian members of our community By this means the spread of all in
testinal diseases could probably be prevented absolutely yet still at this
present time regular hand washing is more notable for its omission than for
its performance
Facilities for washing the hands are still not readily available in public
places and efforts to remedy this continue unceasingly It will be seen that
some improvement was obtained in the provision of hand washing facilities in
public conveniences during the year but much more needs to be done and under
the Food and Drugs Regulations new provisions in restaurants public houses and
other places of community association were asked for in 1964 while the new
Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act is likely to produce better washing
facilities in such places where workers are likely to eat food brought from
their homes
The principal sources of supply of health education material are the Central
Council for Health Education the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
and the Central Office of Information Projector slides and cinema films are
prepared by quite a large number of private companies and Government bodies
and sometimes by local authorities direct on important subjects, and these are
used from time to time to accompany talks to organisations or to school children
Of recent months short health education features have been increasingly presented
on B.B.C television at a useful time in the evening when most people have
reached their homes and have not yet had to leave for evening engagements
In January 1964 the Central Council for Health Education held a Confer
ence the subject this year being "Community Health In addition a four day
Seminar for Medical Officersof Health was held by the same authority in February
on the subject of Occupational Health", During this Seminar visits were
arranged to factories with really up to date methods of sanitation for the
workers whether on the plant or in the offices. The needs for the most hygienic
methods of hand drying and the proper placing of hand basins in sanitary con
veniences or in work rooms were discussed A bacteriological investigation of
methods of hand drying favours the use of the hot air means for drying or the
individual paper towel since even the continuous roller towel using one section
for each person could be subject to carelessness in handling At these Seminars
it is always possible to learn about the recent advances in health education
methods and in addition Medical Officersof Health are able to share informa
tion on health education methods as applied in each district This is a very
useful interchange of ideas for instance in the previousyear s Seminar a demon
stration of the great possibilities of health education in local television
circuits when they shall become country wide was fully demonstrated by closed
circuit viewing at the actual Conference Local television has yet to come in
this neighbourhood
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