[Report 1921] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Swindon Borough.

  • Swindon (Wiltshire, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1921
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1921] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, Swindon Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    5 ditions ; it will be possible to judge the enormous advance that has been made in preventive medicine, particularly in the sup¬ pression of infantile diarrhoea, the most fertile cause of death of all diseases which occur in temperate climates. The work of the Public Health Department falls under two heads. The first deals with those factors which influence the health of the population as a whole, such as Water supply, Drainage, the prevention of Epidemic Diseases etc. The second is of modern introduction, dating from the introduction of the medical inspection of school children in 1907. Unlike the older activities of Public Health, these newer activities seek to apply the principles of pre¬ ventive medicine separately to each individual of the community. At present such action is confined to children, and it is questionable whether its application to adults is altogether feasible, but as regards the rising generation there can be no question that by applying the principles of prevention to suit each individual unit, a vast amount of human disease, possibly the majority of human disease, can be eliminated. ' 9 It will be well to review briefly the arrangements that have been made by the Swindon Town Council for applying the prin¬ ciples of preventive medicine to the individual members of the community. From what follows it will be seen that these arrange¬ ments are very fairly complete for dealing with all citizens from the time of conception until the completion of puberty. After that age is attained, and the individual citizens have assumed the adult condition, there is no further provision made for dealing with them individually, except in exceptional circumstances. PROSPECTIVE MOTHERHOOD. Women who are expecting to become mothers are visited by the Health Visitors. During 1921 191 visits were paid in this connection. An Ante-natal clinic was started in 1920, and some progress was made during 1921. Owing to the lack of staff the progress made was less than was hoped for, but in the coming year the ante-natal work will be developed. During 1921 80 prospective mothers attended the Ante-natal Clinic, involving 117 consultations. Expectant mothers in necessitous circumstances can obtain extra milk for their own consumption on application to the Health Office. There are indirect means for relieving prospective mothers who are in dire necessity, but there is not at present any satisfactory official method of dealing with these cases. There is no hostel for unmarried mothers in Swindon, nor is any arrange¬ ment made to deal with such cases.