[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Wortley R.D.C.

  • Wortley (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Wortley R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    causes of Cancer of the Lung, and one of these is smoking0 Experts have agreed that there is some definite relationship between smoking and Cancer of the Lung0 I have endeavoured from time to time to point out the dangers that exist by using posters, film shows, and group discussions0 I was invited by the Headmaster of one of the Senior Modern Schools to give a talk and to show a film which was well attended and which I think interested the young people present0 Nevertheless I do not seem to discern any marked falling off in the amount of smokingo Young people learn by example and I am wondering if the example set by their seniors encourages them to refrain from beginning the habit of smoking0 I wish I could see a slackening off in the habit, and I do not think it is asking too much of a sacrifice to cut smoking to a minimum,. Not only would it set an example, but the ”heavy smoker” would feel infinitely better in health in consequence0 There was a total of 28 deaths due to violence during the year, one of which was due to homicide, 3 to suicide, 8 to accidents involving motor vehicles and 16 others0 The 16 other accidents were accidents principally involving elderly people, except in two cases0 One male of 33 died following a Pedal Cycle accident and one female, 55, accidentally choked whilst a patient in Hospital0 All the others were due to falls in some form or another, 9 in fact being due to accidents in the home either by falling downstairs or tripping over furniture,. Five others were due to falls in Hospital whilst in-patientso I ought to point out here that when one is considering the total number of deaths in any district one must ran ember that we now attribute to our district all deaths occurring in Hospitals within the district where the person has been an in-patient for six months or more0 .. That means, for instance, that if someone has been an in-patient in Middlewood for six months or more and dies there the death is attributed to the Wortley Rural District, notwithstanding the fact that the personas home might be in another part of the Country altogether0 On the face of it this would tend to increase the death rat© in those districts where there was a large Hospital, but the comparability factor arrived at by the Registrar-General takes account of this and a corrected rate is arrived at0 To balance the number of deaths thus attributed to our district one must r on ember those cases from the district who have been removed to Hospitals in neighbouring County Boroughs and where they have been in-patients for more than six months and who might die whilst resident in these Hospitals0 Accidents in the home have been responsible for a large share of deaths in the accident group0 In 1959 a campaign was launched with the theme 11 Check that fall!,0 The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents initiated this campaign and encouraged Home Safety Committees to make a special effort to publicise the dangers, particularly to the aged, and only slightly less so, to the very young from falls0 It is the principal cause of accidental death in the home so far as the aged are concerned and it would appear that very much more has got to be done about this0 My staff, medical, medico-social and the Public Health Inspectorate staff have all made an effort to propagandise this measureo I still have a feeling that active Home Safety Committees, principally composed of representatives from all the Voluntary Organisations, can be of great value in intensifying this propaganda effort, and I would welcome the establishment of others within the Wortley Rural District0 We have one in Grenoside, but a few others would be helpful0 5o