[Report 1940] / Medical Officer of Health, Worcestershire / County of Worcester County Council.

  • Worcestershire (England). County Council.
Date:
1940
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1940] / Medical Officer of Health, Worcestershire / County of Worcester County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    37/44 (page 17)
    17 1. The provision of extra nourishment to other members of the family if necessary, supplying other necessities of life as well as milk. While we should do everything wo can for the horizontal, surely we should maintain the vertical. 2. Financi d aid. Only too many patients find themselves on a public assistance level ; they feel they must return to work in order to maintain the standard of living of the family and so all tin; benefit derived from treatment is lost. In view of the chronicitv of the disease the present National Health Scheme fails to help the tuberculous. It appears that these patients must be placed in a special category so that increased benefits could be made available for a sufficiently prolonged period. In this mariner the patient will be freed from economic anxiety and the family health maintained. Rehabilitation of the tuberculous worker is a national problem which will have to be taken in hand' when mass radiography comes to the fore. What constitutes a great problem is the large number of tuberculous housewives ; often they cannot settle down in sana¬ torium because they are away from their children, to whom they return to infect further ; the standard of health and cleanliness of the household depends upon them and they infect their neighbours who come to help them. These housewives cannot be rehabilitated, home-helps can only be temporary and often aggravate domestic worry, and it is impossible to separate the children from them unless the patients are isolated in Sanatorium. TABLE I. Notifications. Deaths. Year. Non- Pulmonary Pulmonary Total Rate Pulmonary Non- Pulmonary Total Rate 1930 330 80 410 1.35 200 43 243 0.74 1937 317 99 410 1.29 172 40 O 1 o w 1 /U 0.63 1938 293 92 385 1.32 171 28 199 0.59 1939 237 65 302 0.87 151 35 180 0.54 1940 281 70 357 0.98 172 40 212 0.59 The number of transfer cases into the County in 1940 was 70, compared with 54 in 1039. ■ TABLE II. This table gives the notifications of tuberculosis during 1940 showing age periods. The figures in the respective ago groups lire being' followed up and will be reviewed at a later date.