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60
Once again over ten thousand children had a periodic medical inspection during
the year. This represents over one-third of the school population of the Area.
2697 pupils were found to require treatment, and this number does not include those
requiring treatment for vermin infestation and dental disease. In the appendix to
this report will be found an analysis of the conditions requiring treatment and it
will be seen that by far the greatest number of these is vision at 1684. This is not
to say that this defect hadnot been discovered previously; in fact, a large proportion
of visual defects had already been detected at previous examination, but it was still
necessary to record the defects as requiring treatment. The same principle applies
to other defects listed. Undoubtedly a number of new defects are discovered at each
examination and the proper treatment instituted, but it is inescapable that a large
part of the time of school medical officers is concerned with checking the progress of
established defects.
In this Area, periodic medical inspections are carried out four times during the
pupils' school life. Some consider this to be unproductive work and maintain that the
school medical officer's time could be used to better advantage. In certain parts of
the country interesting experiments are taking place with selective medical inspections.
The details of the system vary from place to place but in the main depend on a full
medical inspection of all entrants followed up from time to time by inspection of those
children selected by medical officers as a result of answers to questionnaires sent to
the parents and as a result of referral by head teachers and others. The system
demands very close co-operation between teachers and school medical officers, requiring
frequent visits to schools and it takes into account the results of hygiene surveys by
school nurses. It is believed that selective medical examinations will eventually
replace periodic medical inspections, and the results of the experiments in other
authorities will be received with interest.
B.C.G. Vaccination