Year by year the British people "is steadily gaining' in national health, and the annual reports from the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health Bon indicate progress of which a great county may well be proud. The latest issue which has just been published Zives an interesting comparison between conditions a century ago, when diseases "rioted uncontrolled throughout England," and those of present times, when ceaseless vigilance and medical and public health measures have completely stamped out certain diseases, while others have been reduced both in incidence and virulence, and the chances of persons living to become over 60 years of age have improved 38 per cent. for men and those for women 43 per cent. Perhaps the most striking example of what can be achieved in the combating of one special disease within a short span of years is found in the figures dealing with tuberculosis. By measures taken for the avoidance of infection, by improved housing, nutrition, and hygiene, and by public clinics set up for treatment of this specific disease, the incidence of deaths from tuberculosis in Great Britain during the year 1937 was only half the yearly average for the ten years 1910 to 1920. Other notable facts recorded are that the maternal mortality during the year was the lowest on record, being only 3.13 per thousand births. Mortality among children under one year of age also decreased, largely as a result of the rapidly-growing number. of mothers who attend infant welfare and antenatal clinics to learn how to guard their own and their children's health. There was a rise in the number of births, resulting in the highest number of births for five years.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.