[Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Cumberland County Council.

  • Cumberland (England). County Council.
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1950] / Medical Officer of Health, Cumberland County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    TO THE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL Mr. Chairvfian, My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen, I beg to present the annual report on the Health Services for 1950. Vital Statistics The vital statistics for the year hardly call for any comment. Variations from the previous year are mainly negligible. It is worth drawing attention to the fact that deaths from cancer have fallen sub- stantially, and that deaths from non-pulmonary tuber- culosis have also fallen to a very low figure. No doubt this result is due to the intensive efforts made over the years to eradicate tuberculous cattle from the herds of the county. “ The Decline and Fall ” One of the classics of literature, under the above title, describes the waxing and waning of one of the imperial administrations of the past. One of the lead- ing public health papers recently opened an editorial comment with these words, “ Public health is in a bad way.” That is an understatement, for unless drastic action is taken by the Ministry of Health and by the associations of local authorities, public health, as we have known it for generations, is on the way out. There has been much talk about new horizons for public health in the shape of prevention of illness, health propaganda, socio-medicine, and matters of that kind. Under the acid test of recruitment to the service, and there is no other test of equal significance, the attrac- tions of these new horizons, which have been so eloquently expounded, are proving a miasma. Young medical graduates are not adopting public health as their profession. Hardly any of the universities and colleges of the country are thinking it worth while, or finding it possible, to conduct post-graduate courses in public health for the diploma or corresponding qualifica- tion. I think this year the exact number is three. It is a sign of the times that the London School of Hygiene has, by what has been described as an “ act of faith,” thought it desirable to offer scholarships and free tuition to students desiring to take the Diploma in Public Health. Even those classes which are being held,.