MEDICINE ATTACKED BY HEALTH-OFFICER.

Shannon News, 26 February 1929, Page 4

MEDICINE ATTACKED BY HEALTH-OFFICER.

A DOCTOR'S PROPER '" DUTY.

"I should like to see back in our midst the old-type family doctor, who kept a careful watch over the families under his care, but armed with' the most modern preventive weapons for defending those under his care from being attacked by disease." This was a statement made, by'Dr J. Howard-Jones, Medical Officer of Health at Newport (Mon.), in Ms pre.sidential'Mldaross to. the ,annual meeting of the Society of-Medical Officers or Health, in London.

He attacked the system of affecting i cures iTrifcJr bottles o"f medicine, -made | a striking appeal ic doctors to combing J in the prevention of disease, and-indi-cated a future in which there ,would bo a -periodical medical examination of the general community. "There is a va.>t amount of work to bo done in the education of the public as to the true value of drugs in the cure of disease," he said. "The As-1 sociation of Insurance Committees' and others interested in the finances'-of the ! Insurance Act are seriously - concerned i about the large increase in : the cost o? drugs, and the number-of'prescrip-tions required by .insured persons. The total is between forty and fifty million prescriptions per annum.

Mountain of Drugs. "The weight of the medicine, "dispensed in bottles hi England and iff twelve months is at least' Sill tons, and othen itoms weigh at least -2103 tons, a total .of over 10,500. tons of medicants dispensed among about 12,500,000 insured people yearly. Remarking that the principle-of. periodical medical inspection now .applied to the Army and'Navy, school children, I and, to a large extent, the expectant ! noiher, Dr Howard-Jones said: "Tho extension of the principle of periodical medical examination' of the general community for the preservation ■• of health and the early detection' b£ disease will naturally follow. "Public opinion is ripe 'for ihstruction in matters pertaining' tO' the/care ot health. Health propaganda is 'bocoming increasingly' popular, 'in fact, there is a plethora or societies etiga&ed in such work, and attempts at; coordinating their efforts see'm to : lead to a rapid increase in their numbers. » MidMtrifery Training., On the subject of medical training in midwifery, Dr Howard-Jones , said: "It has been repeatedly stated "in official reports that the teaching -of obstetrics and gynaecology at most of, .if not all, the medical schools in' Great Britain is to be desired. Improvements have been instituted since 1922, but even now, according to Dr Janet Campbell, the training in obstetrics compares unfavourably with the training in, say, general surgery, although a good knowledge of midwifery is essential to the future doctor, while ho may seldom practise major surgery. "The new curriculum in midwifery dc-e.s include a certain amount of training in ante-natal care. In view of the fact that the deaths from premature births and diseases in early infancy in England and Wales exceed 25,000 per annum, this provision is not ' premature. ' . '

"Lfidwifery in industrial praeticpj is generally underpaid. If we are to secure ante-natal and post-natal eare then the question of remuneration will have to be seriously reconsidered; not only that, but, the public will have to be educated as regards the necessity for paying for preventive ■ midwifery, and the State and local authorities wijl have to revise their present policies."