Report / Board of Health, City of Edmonton, Alberta.

  • Edmonton (Alta.). Board of Health.
Date:
[1946]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report / Board of Health, City of Edmonton, Alberta. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/28 (page 4)
    Whooping cough reached a remarkably low level of 92 cases for the year. We believe that the effective whooping1 cough vaccine now in use is in large part accountable for this comforting figure. Immunization procedures numbering 13,141 were carried out on 4,683 children in our inoculation clinic which is open every afternoon. These were almost entirely babies and pre-school children. The School Medical Services carried out a further 7,562 such procedures in the schools. It is interesting to calculate the saving our citizens derive from pre¬ ventive services. Reducing the problem to averages, and adjusting for popu¬ lation, it is evident that preventive measures save our city from having 143 cases of smallpox, 500 cases of diphtheria and 780 cases of typhoid each year, as compared to thirty-five years ago. Aside from the death, disability and loss of earning power involved, this would represent a cost of more than a quarter of a million dollars to our citizens in these three diseases alone. Child Welfare: The number of babies and pre-school children under supervision by the Child Welfare Clinic has continued to increase. This service has, we believe, a direct influence upon our favorable infant mortality rate. An urgent need in our city is more adequate nursing homes for babies whose parents cannot give them personal care. Sanitation: Overcrowding of dwelling accommodation still makes proper sanitation difficult in many parts of our city. Despite considerable building activity many of our citizens, particularly these in the lower income group, are not yet adequately housed. A reinforced sanitary staff has permitted increased supervision of restaurants, stores, food factories and other food handling establishments. Many such establishments are only now emerging from the makeshift period forced upon us by war. Some types of equipment and plumbing are still difficult to obtain. Constant supervision of our milk supply, with excellent co-operation from producers and distributors, has maintained a safe standard throughout the year. The demand, however, has threatened to overcome the supply at several periods; but with the co-operation of the Board of Public Utilities it is anticipated that an adequate future supply can be assured. The forced increase in cost was a disappointment to us, for we view a low cost milk supply as an outstanding protection to the public health. General: I have mentioned the need of homes for the care of babies. There is also an urgent need for more adequate accommodation for aged and infirm citizens. Even where moderate costs can be met, it is practically impossible for some of these older folk to find a suitable home, especially if their infirm¬ ity calls for some degree of care. It cannot be denied that some of them spend a grim period waiting to leave this world. The capacity of the general hospitals of the City have been taxed severely during the year. Development of adequate hospital and medical facilities in the rural areas of our province may prove to be part of the answer to this problem. We are again grateful to the Provincial Board of Health and the Pro¬ vincial Laboratory for technical assistance and advice. Respectfully submitted, G. M. LITTLE, Medical Officer of Health.