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Burrow Hill Training Colony. This Institution has been
opened by the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis.
Treatment and Training in Gardening; and Clerical Work
are provided for youths of ages ranging from 15 to 19 years. One
youth has been sent there.
The Prevention of Tuberculosis. At the Annual Conference of
the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, there
was a discussion upon the factors at work in the causation of Adult
Tuberculosis. Chronic fatigue and such physical factors as worry,
grief, anxiety, sorrow and malnutrition were mentioned. I venture
to direct attention to the remarkable increase of deaths from
Tuberculosis amongst females at the age period 15—20 years. In
1928 the number of deaths from Tuberculosis of the Lungs at the
age period 10—15 years was 5 for females, none for males. At
the age period 15—20 years, 24 for females and 12 for males; in
other years the figures are similar.
At the period of life from 15 to 20 years the individual is
faced with a twofold challenge. There is the challenge of growth
(puberty) and the challenge of work; he or she has to meet the
demands of the growing body on the one hand and the demands of
the family on the other, involving a change of status from dependence
to independence. It may be that the stresses and strains to
mind and body impair, or even exhaust, the vitality of the body
and offer an opening for the development of the germ of Tuberculosis,
already sown in the tissues.
Consider further what this effort to earn a livelihood means.
A new, strange and unsympathetic, even hostile, environment
arousing fear and anxiety, unaccustomed work bringing fatigue
and weariness, mid-day meals hurried and inadequate, failure to
nourish the growing body (one girl spent only 7d. on her mid-day
meal). The long and tiring journey in crowded 'bus, tram or
train, increasing fatigue, favour the spread of infection. The
search for sensation and recreation in crowded Cinemas and heated
Dance Halls further lower resistance.
The raising of school leaving age may prove a valuable factor
in the Prevention of Tuberculosis and other diseases.
(1) In postponing the necessitv of earning a livelihood.
(2) In offering opportunity for further instruction in Health and
Hygiene.
(3) In introducing some degree of Vocational Selection.
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