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Notifications of new cases of venereal disease show
a marked increase for 1969. This trend is to he noted
nationally and, indeed, internationally. It presents a serious
challenge to parents, teachers and health educationalists to
see that young people are properly informed of the physical
and moral danger of extramarital sexual intercourse and promiscuous
sexual behaviour. The fear of unwanted pregnancy has largely
been dissipated by the advent of modern contraceptive methods
and is no longer a deterrent to promiscuous behaviour.
Venereal diseases are transmitted by intimate sexual contact
and those who have placed themselves at risk should present
themselves for examination by either their family doctor or at
one of the special venereal disease clinics where they will be
treated with kindness and without the adoption of moral attitudes.
Personal Health
The Council's personal and school health services
have made much progress towards their closer alignment with
general practitioners and hospitals. Health visitors and home
nurses and midwives are being attached to groups of general
practitioners wherever possible and enjoy increasingly closer
association with local hospitals. The achievement of full
integration cannot be achieved quickly; it inevitably requires
more staff and many administrative and professional problems
have to be overcome. It is important to ensure that the much
valued preventive work carried on in schools and health clinics
by doctors, health, visitors and nurses does not suffer during the
progress of unification, whether this be on a national or local
basis; also that the new sphere in which attached nursing
staff are asked to work does not detract from their traditional
form of service to families in their own homes.
The report of the Chief Medical Officer illustrates
the continually increasing demand for community health services
of all sorts. Particular note should perhaps be made of
developments in the fields of Family Planning, Cervical Cytology
and well-women screening, screening of infants for phenylketonuria
and fibrocystic disease of the pancreas and of advisory clinics
for the elderly. These developments in special fields of work
should not be allowed to overshadow the importance of family
visiting and routine procedures of health supervision for mothers
and children which are the basis of preventive health services.
Attention should also be drawn to the increasing numbers of sick,
elderly and disabled persons being nursed in their own homes
and of maternity cases delivered in hospital who are discharged
early to their own homes.
Environmental Pollution
This subject is one to which, quite rightly, a great
deal of public attention has been drawn in recent times. It
should not be thought, however, that this is a new problem or
one over which there is no control at present. The report of the
Chief Public Health Inspector describing the work of the Public
Health Inspectors is illustrative of the extent of the work which
is carried out routinely in connection with those aspects of
pollution control for which local authorities are responsible.
In comparatively few cases is enforcement action necessary, most
are resolved by education and persuasion.
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