Report / Board of Health, City of Edmonton, Alberta.

  • Edmonton (Alta.). Board of Health.
Date:
[1955]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report / Board of Health, City of Edmonton, Alberta. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/28 (page 3)
    Annua! Report of the Medical Officer of Health Chairman and Members Local Board of Health, Edmonton, Alberta. Ladies and Gentlemen: I have the pleasure of presenting to you the following reports of the various activities of our Board for 1955. It was a year of expanding services to meet the needs of a population which increased by 11,517 from the previous year. The fall school term found the school population increased by approximately 4,000 children. We are grateful to the Provincial and Federal Governments for the continuation of public health grants which have been of great assistance in meeting the rapidly increasing demand for public health services. The Provincial Department of Health, through its various branches, has also been generous in providing us with technical and material assistance. The general death-rate in our city showed a decrease for the fourth successive year. Communicable disease incidence was about as anticipated. A limited epidemic of poliomyelitis gave 58 cases with one death. Over 8,800 school children were given their first two doses of poliomyelitis vaccine, and the general reports of this vaccine from across Canada lead us to expect a steady decrease in incidence of this disease. Four cases of diphtheria during the year serve as a warning that we cannot relax our efforts in providing protection against this treacherous disease. Both the case-rate and death-rate for tuberculosis showed an increase over the previous year. Skin-testing of all Grade I pupils was instituted, and also X-ray of all new teachers entering the school services, with the assistance of the Tuberculosis Division of the Provincial Health Department. The pro¬ vincial service, in co-operation wiht the Alberta Tuberculosis Association, have begun an X-ray survey of the workers in the larger industrial and business institutions of our city. We believe that continuation of these efforts will steadily increase our control of this disease. The high percentage of school children with decayed teeth continues to be a discouraging condition. A number of cities on our continent have demonstrated the possibility of reducing these defects by nearly two-thirds with fluoridation of community water supplies. In over ten years’ experience they have proven this procedure to be free from any suspicion of harmful effect on the human body. There appears to be no intelligent reason for continuing to deny this outstanding protective measure to our children. Our clinics for immunization, supervision of infants and pre-school children, and dental supervision of school children have accomplished notable