[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough].

  • St. Pancras (London, England). Borough. Vestry.
Date:
[1866?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/22 (page 8)
    8 In 1855 the number of orders issued for medical relief was 10,729, so that in ten years, the number of persons in receipt of out-door medical relief, had increased 59 per cent. There were sent, during the year 1865, to the Fever Hospital, from Saint Pancras, at the expense of the Directors of the Poor, 193 cases, of whom 28 died; and to the Small Pox Hospital, 106 cases, of whom 9 died. In 1864 the number sent to the two Hospitals were 179 and 45 respectively. VACCINATION. During the year which ended 29th September, 1865, there were successfully vaccinated, by the Parochial District Vaccinators, 2,934 persons, of whom 2,580 were under twelve months of age. In the same period there were registered 7,349 births. Besides the number vaccinated, at the expense of the parish, there are many children vaccinated at the two national vaccine stations in Saint Pancras, and many by private medical praotitioners; moreover, of the children born, a number die before they reach the age at which vaccination should be performed. But even when all these points are considered, there is reason to fear that a considerable number of children are not vaccinated. In the present state of the law, there is no practicable method of ascertaining to what extent vaccination is neglected, and the law for enforcing its performance is nearly a dead letter. There is a Bill now before Parliament, which, if it pass into law, will be a slight improvement, though it will be far from ensuring anything like universal vaccination. It attempts to provide for the registration of vaccination, when this operation is performed by the Public Vaccinator, in the district where the birth was registered, by imposing a penalty on him if he fails to transmit the certificate of successful vaccination to the Registrar; and where vaccination is performed by other medical practioners, the duty of transmitting the certificate of vaccination is thrown upon the parent or guardian. It imposes a penalty upon the parent who neglects to have a child vaccinated, or to take the child to the Yaccinator for inspection after vaccination. It empowers any Registrar, or any officer appointed by the Guardians, to take proceedings under the Act, against any person who has a child under thirteen years of age, who, there is reason to believe, is not vaccinated, and the parent or guardian with the child, may be summoned before a Justice, and fined 20s., unless he can show that the child has been vaccinated, or is unfit for or insusceptible of vaccination. The onus of proof is thrown upon the defendant, and not, as before, on the prosecutor. In England, compulsion, in the strict sense of the term, will never be enforced, in respect to vaccination; but the infliction of a penalty upon those who neglect it from mere indifference, and not from conviction, is perfectly justifiable. It would be well if evidence of vaccination were made an essential for admission to all public schools, to employment in the public service, and were required by all employers of labour. Many of the prejudices against vaccination arise from imperfections in the operation itself. The Government, whilst requiring every person to be vaccinated, should make provision for the efficiency of vaccination throughout the kingdom. The attention of the Privy Council has been directed to this subject, but there is still need for furtherimprovement in this direction.