[Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Abingdon and Faringdon Districts Joint Public Health Committee (Abingdon Borough, Abingdon R.D.C., Faringdon R.D.C.).

  • Abingdon and Faringdon Districts. Joint Public Health Committee.
Date:
1957
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Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Abingdon and Faringdon Districts Joint Public Health Committee (Abingdon Borough, Abingdon R.D.C., Faringdon R.D.C.). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    To do this, they first need to understand more of the great changes that have taken place in the last ten years in the treatment and cure of this disease, so that an attitude of confidence, hopeful- ness and frankness replaces that of fear, despair and secrecy that surrounded the subject a short time ago. In the past, to change the national climate of opinion such as this could not be hoped for within a generation or two, but the popularity of radio, tele- vision, the press and the cinema has made all the difference. Ten years ago, diagnosis of T.B. of the lungs in 10 young men or women in the prime of life was an almost certain sentence of death within a few years for about half of them, so fear and furtiveness were natural. Nowadays the illness and recovery of, for example, Gilbert Harding, is known simultaneously in millions of homes. In my report of 1954, I suggested that the time was overdue when a regular chest X-Ray should be a condition of employment of certain occupations where there is frequent and close contact with large numbers of the general public and especially with children. I gave as examples, ‘school teachers, bus conductors, shop assistants, waiters, hairdressers, barmen, and yes, even dentists and doctors.’ At the recent joint annual conference of the British Tuberculosis Association with the Commonwealth Chest Conference, the Pro- fessor of Tuberculosis at Edinburgh University, Dr. John Crofton. improved this list as follows, and with the comments which I quote: “1. School teachers and all working with children such as in Nurseries. In Scotland, most local authorities grant extended periods on full pay if work has to stop. “2. Bus conductors and ticket collectors. Most are employed by local authorities or nationalised industries. “3. Hairdressers. Every shop should display a certificate to show that each employee has had an X-Ray. “4. Shop assistants. Bigger stores usually co-operate. “5. Food servers. In most states in the U.S. food handlers have to be X-Rayed every year. “6. Hospital employees including doctors and nurses. It is very difficult to get doctors, either in or out of hospital, regularly X-Rayed except in chest units. In consequence, my own clinical practice among doctors is flourishing! Other hos- pital employees are very much neglected at the present time. Although nurses are regularly X-Rayed, sisters are often omitted, even in Children’s hospitals. “7. Dentists. Another elusive professional group which has hardly been touched.