[Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Hartismere R.D.C.

  • Hartismere (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Hartismere R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/16 (page 3)
    To the Chairman and Members of the Hartismere Rural District Council Mr. Chairman,’ Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to present my Annual Report for 1968. There has been a very slight increase in the estimated population together with a slight rise in the number of births. The standardised Birth Rate approximates very closely with the National level. The Still Birth Rate is 4 per 1,000 live and still births compared with the National Rate of 1^.00. The Infant Mortality Rate is slightly higher than the National Rate. The Standardised Death Rate (9»5M compares very favourably with the National figure of 11.9■> Of the notifiable infectious diseases,Measles was by far the most prevalent and 82 cases were notified during the year. Turning now from the statistical details of this report I should like to draw attention to the importance of the safe care of medicines by members of the public. Every year many tragedies occur as when small children eat brightly coloured pills in mistake for sweets, when unsuspecting people drink poisonous lotions that have been put into old lemonade bottles, or when medicines are incorrectly used. Medicines should not be hoarded with the idea that they might come in handy on some future occasion. The.cough mixture that did Uncle Joe so much good will probably be quite unsuitable, and perhaps dangerous for another member of the family who may suffer from a cough on some future occasion. Another point is that many medicines lose their strength after a certain period of time and they are therefore useless and ineffective. The safe disposal of old medicines in country areas can present problems. If water closets are available medicines can be flushed away down the W.C. pan. They should not be put in dustbins, nor buried in the ground. If difficulties are encountered over safe disposal members of the public can ring the Hartismere Public Health Department when arrangements will gladly be made for unwanted and out of date drugs to be collected and disposed of safely. Finally I should like to express my thanks to the staff of the Public Health Department for their good work during 1968. 1 am. Yours faithfully, K. M. Harding. Medical Officer of Health.