Interim report of the Departmental Committee on Tuberculosis.

  • Great Britain. Treasury. Committee on Tuberculosis.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Interim report of the Departmental Committee on Tuberculosis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Part I. of the Tuberculosis (Ireland) Act provides, where adopted, for the notification of certain forms of tuberculosis. Part IL, section 4, of the same Act enacts that :— (1) A county council may, if they think fit, provide hospitals and dispensaries for the treatment of inhabitants of their county suffering from tuberculosis, and for that purpose may—(qa) themselves establish and maintain such hospitals and dispensaries, or (b) enter into an agreement with any person having the management of any hospital or dispensary for the reception, maintenance, and treatment in the hospital, or for treatment in the dispensary, as the case may be, of any such inhabitants of their county, as aforesaid. (2) Two or more county councils may combine in providing a common hospital or dispensary for the purpose of this section. Present Position. With the exception of the beds provided by boards of guardians, very little pro- vision has been made by local sanitary authorities for the treatment of tuberculosis, and no dispensaries or sanatoria have been provided by county councils under the Tuberculosis Act, 1908. A certain number of beds have been provided, and one dispensary through the enterprise of the Women’s National Health Association, and a few hospitals for the treatment of early cases have also been provided by voluntary effort. Altogether the provision available in institutions outside the poor law for the treatment of cases of tuberculosis is extremely small, having regard to the large death-rate from the disease. The Committee desire to express their appreciation of the work done in Ireland by the Women’s National Health Association. ‘They are of opinion that every effort should be made to assist and develop the work of the Association. : Ireland as compared with Great Britain, The conditions in Ireland are very different from those in Kngland. For instance, the Irish population is largely rural, whilst the English is largely urban. The number of deaths from tuberculosis per 1,000 of the Irish population is much higher than in the rest of the United Kingdom. ‘The law, in many respects, is different. In Ireland the county councils have no public health functions, and there are no county medical officers of health; the notification of tuberculosis is not universally adopted. The schools are not rate-aided, and there is no system of medical inspection or treatment of school children. The infectious disease hospitals are, for the most part, in the hands of the poor law boards. Recommendations for Ireland. It is clear that some of the recommendations which the Committee have made in the other section of the report would either not be applicable to Ireland, or might require to be considerably modified. In view, therefore, of the more complex conditions existing in Ireland, the Committee desires merely to express the opinion that the same general principles as regards treatment and the class of institution to be established which are indicated in this report are applicable to Ireland, and that the authorities administering the grants should, in the main, be guided by those general principles. The areas of administration should, as far as practicable, be those of borough and county councils or combination of counties. The Committee consider that it is necessary, in order to deal effectively with tuberculosis in Ireland, to provide without delay for :— (a) The compulsory notification of pulmonary tuberculosis in all districts in Ireland. (b) Entrusting county councils with administrative functions for dealing with public health and for the appointment of county medical officers of health. (c) The medical inspection and treatment of school children, which should be provided by means of a Government grant. The Committee consider that a fixed proportion of the grant of 145,000l. to Treland should be earmarked for providing for the institutional treatment of tuberculous children. The higher incidence of tuberculosis in Ireland amongst children of the school age renders it imperative that adequate provision should be made for dealing with this aspect of the question, for if this matter is not adequately dealt with, it may result in throwing upon the insured ages a large number of medically unfit persons, and thus upset the actuarial calculations upon which the finance of the National Insurance Act is founded. ™ n 12840 ; })
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