[Report 1970] / Medical Officer of Health, Maidstone U.D.C. / Borough.

  • Maidstone (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1970
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1970] / Medical Officer of Health, Maidstone U.D.C. / Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/56 (page 3)
    3* Acts to obtain a Magistrate’s Order to remove elderly people from their homes due to insanitary conditions, lack of car@9 or the occurrence of grave illness* The supportive services were invoked in all such potential cases and were able to cope* In all those ways the healthy state of the Borough was displayed and the standard which has been built up over the years was maintained„ The picture is not* however* rose-tinted throughout*. In the fields of tuberculosis and cancer there are certain warning signs* The number of new cases of tuberculosis, although again at a low level - 1 in 5,000 persons in Maidstone - is slightly above last year°s figure0 The trend previously has been for a progressive fall in incidence, and any increase* however slight* is against expectation* In the case of cancer this year°s statistics are the worst we have had since records were started* Certainly one yearns figures are not enough to substantiate pessimism, but they come as a grim reminder that in this very serious disease we have still a very long road to travel* The disheartening increase in lung cancer* despite the abundance of evidence of its relationship to heavy smoking is ominous* The local increase has been from 37 deaths in 1969 to 51 in 1970 - facts which leave no room for complacency* Every effort should be made to co¬ operate with the services offered for early diagnosis* among them Mass. Radiography* cervical smears, cutting down on* or giving up* smoking* This is indeed the optimistic outlook on cancer - that in some respects at least there are proven ways in which we can help ourselves to avoid the disease or minimise its consequences0 One aspect of life which calls for more attention is the care of the elderly* We as a nation have been slow to appreciate the inevitable and increasing problems which longevity brings* Its primary effect is a shift in the age-group proportions of the population* To add to length of life without increasing health and strength in the latter years is no bonus* Frail old people in increasing numbers have to be looked after0 It is time that the public service was expanded to cope with those problems in the same way as child care was attended to when health visitors took their place in the team* Today the need to care for the elderly far outweighs the priority of infant services* The attachment of health visitors to medical practices is welcomed* It is not general throughout the country and elderly people are still not getting a fair share of this additional assistance*