The Health Services
1944-05 1944 1940s 23 pages 3 II. — THE PREVENTIVE SERVICES. This century has seen the beginnings of preventive medicine, in a wider and more personal sense. During the nineteenth century it was limited to a few measures designed to check the spread of infectious diseases. There were no...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : C. W. Publishing Ltd.
May 1944
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/3D34AE7C-9352-4755-A85B-AFA0171FEF51 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/B66410F6-0065-4B8F-8ED8-657B55CA5AAF |
| Summary: | 1944-05
1944
1940s
23 pages
3 II. — THE PREVENTIVE SERVICES. This century has seen the beginnings of preventive medicine, in a wider and more personal sense. During the nineteenth century it was limited to a few measures designed to check the spread of infectious diseases. There were no personal services to protect the individual, as distinct from society. The examination of recruits for the Boer War revealed that the majority were of appallingly low physique. Commissions of inquiry were appointed, and their reports in 1903 and 1904 contained the epoch-making suggestion that it was necessary to go to the root of the trouble, and take measures to safeguard the health of children. As a result, first the school medical service, and then the welfare services for mothers and infants emerged as signs of a more enlightened social conscience. For those who are excluded from these services there is no preventive medicine, except in the case of one or two isolated experiments such as the Peckham Health Centre. The patient only sees his doctor when he is already ill. (I) Measures against Infectious Diseases : (a) Vaccination. Vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory in 1853 in Scotland, and in 1867 in England. Up to 1907, when exemption in case of conscientious objection was simplified, practically all children were vaccinated. After that date the percentage of vaccinated children soon fell: in 1935 it was only 33.4 for England and Wales and 42 for Scotland. (b) Notification. In 1889 a number of the most dangerous infectious diseases was made generally notifiable, and local authorities were empowered to order the notification of further diseases in their areas. The list of notifiable diseases was extended in subsequent years, but tuberculosis was only included in 1912. Venereal diseases are not notifiable. (c) Isolation. For purposes of isolation and treatment special infectious disease hospitals were publicly provided. The Isolation Hospital Acts of 1893 and 1901 empowered local authorities to combine in order to provide jointly a more efficient service. Practically all isolation hospital beds — almost 30,000 in Britain — are in hospitals of local authorities.
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |