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School health service group
T H E S O C I E T Y OF M E D I C A L O F F I C E R S
OF H E A L T H
273
1. Minutes The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14th February, 1958, which had been published in P u B L I C H E A L T H, were taken as read and were confirmed and signed. 2. Annual Reports On the motion of Sir Allen Daley, seconded by Dr. Jean Mackintosh, the annual report of Council, the treasurer's report and the report of the chairman, Editorial Board, were received and approved. Sir Allen Daley complimented Dr. C. Metcalfe Brown and the officers of the Society for the 1957-8 session on the improved financial position. He regretted that the hoped-for reduction in the financial burden resulting from the publication of the journal by Bailli~re, Tindall and Cox, Limited, had not yet been achieved through lack of adequate advertising revenue. Drs. J. Maddison, J. B. Meredith Davies, Agnes V. Kelynack and E. Grey-Turner were all given special mention for the value of their work on the Society's behalf during the period under review. 3. Balance Sheet and Income and Expenditure Account The balance sheet and accounts for the 1957-8 session which had been published in the December, 1958, issue of P u ~ L l C H E A L T ~, were received and adopted. 4. Appointment of Auditors On the motion of Dr. H. D. Chalke, seconded by Dr. J. A. Byars, it was unanimously decided to reappoint Messrs. Greene, Clements and Company, chartered accountants, auditors for the current session. 5. Election of Members The election of one rejoined life member and of 56 new members was approved. 6. Election of Life Members It was moved from the chair and unanimously agreed that the following should be elected as life members: Malcolm Gross, M.z., B.s., D.P.I-I., formerly M.O.H., South Herts (No. 1) Combined Sanitary District, joined Society in 1928, recommended by the Home Counties Branch and nominated by Council; Edith C. Morris Jones, ~.B., B.s., D.P.I-I., formerly S.M.O., M. & C.W., Glos. C.C., joined Society in 1921, recommended by West of England Branch and nominated by Council; John O. Murray, M.D., Cn.B., D.l'.rI., formerly M.O.H. and Port Health M.O., Rochester, joined Society in 1921, recommended by Home Counties Branch and nominated by Council; Margaret Sproul, M.B., CH.B., O.P:n., formerly S.M.O. (M. & C.W.), Salford, joined Society in 1929, recommended by North Western Branch and nominated by Council. 7. Termination There being no further business, the president thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting at 1.20 p.m. SCHOOL
HEALTH
SERVICE
GROUP
The Council of the School Health Service Group has recently had under consideration the question of a memorial to the late Dr. A. A. E. Newth, formerly Principal School Medical Officer to the City of Nottingham. Dr. Newth was elected Honorary Secretary
274
PUBLIC
HEALTH
VOL. L X X I I I
NO. 7
of the Group when it was re-formed, in 1942, after having been inactive for many years, and he held that office continuously until 1957. During those 15 years he played a leading part in restoring the Group to full activity and was largely responsible for its attainment of the position of influence which it holds in the sphere of child health, both within and outside the Society. Apart from his work in the Society, he w a s regarded as one of the leading Principal School Medical Officers of his time and his services to the cause of school health work were outstanding. It has been decided to commemorate his services by the establishment of a prize, to be awarded annually. The conditions of award are not yet determined in detail, but while it will, in general, be awarded to medical Officers in the school health service for original published work, it is proposed that it may be occasionally awarded to persons who are not members of the school health service as such and that exceptionally it may be awarded for meritorious service to school health otherwise than by published papers. The Group will, from its own funds, set aside a substantial sum to found the prize, but it is felt that many past and present members of the Service would welcome the opportunity to be associated with the memorial. Accordingly it invites contributions from past and present members of the Society, not necessarily engaged principally in school health work, to the Newth Memorial Fund. Contributions, which should not exceed one guinea, should be sent to Dr. H. M. Cohen, the Honorary Treasurer of the Group, School Health Department, 102, Edmund Street, Birmingham.
Branch and Group Reports Midland Branch
C L I N I C A L P R E D I C T I O N IN PREVENTIVE MEDICINE The first meeting of the session was held at Lancaster Street Welfare Centre on 16th October with Dr. F. L. Ker, past president, in the chair in the absence of the president Dr. Ker, in the unavoidable absence of the retiring president and of the senior vicepresident, welcomed Dr. S. W. Savage and referred to his very considerable contribution generally to Public Health, and in particular, to the Midland Branch of the Society. He looked forward, and he believed he spoke for all members of the Branch in so doing, to a most interesting year under the guidance and inspiration of Dr. Savage and, thereupon, invited him to take the Chair. Dr. S A V A G E thanked Dr. Ker for his remarks, and having expressed his appreciation to the Branch for honouring him in this way, proceeded to deliver his presidential address entitled " Clinical Prediction in Preventive Medicine". He began by saying that this title really meant " H o w to find out what they are going to get before they get it", thus differing from Prediction in Clinical Medicine, or Prognosis. It was also basically different from spotting early defects. Dealing with long-term trends and excluding physical violence, it was possible
today to place entirely normal people in categories in such a way as to forecast their liability to contract certain diseases at a later date. We had long known the influence of heredity, the prevalence of diabetes in certain geographical localities, classification by blood groups and statistics of supposed and occupational hazards. The word "supposed" was used here because of Morris' finding that although 'bus drivers were more likely to get a coronary thrombosis than conductors the "coronary types" tended to choose 'bus driving rather than conducting, and these types had a similar future when they did not drive a 'bus. To construct one prediction system, Dr. Savage continued, there were four essentials: (a) a determination of significant morphological variables, (b) construction of a scheme into which types showing these variables could be placed, (c) ascertainment of numbers of each type present, and (d) studies to find out in which types the various illnesses occurred and their frequency. It was then possible to construct charts showing the number of individuals existing in all positions on the chart, the distribution of cases of well-defined disease and the precise risks for certain diseases for an individual placed in a particular position. Most of us believed in the importance of "constitution" and "free will" as factors in determining our
OF H E A L T H
273
1. Minutes The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14th February, 1958, which had been published in P u B L I C H E A L T H, were taken as read and were confirmed and signed. 2. Annual Reports On the motion of Sir Allen Daley, seconded by Dr. Jean Mackintosh, the annual report of Council, the treasurer's report and the report of the chairman, Editorial Board, were received and approved. Sir Allen Daley complimented Dr. C. Metcalfe Brown and the officers of the Society for the 1957-8 session on the improved financial position. He regretted that the hoped-for reduction in the financial burden resulting from the publication of the journal by Bailli~re, Tindall and Cox, Limited, had not yet been achieved through lack of adequate advertising revenue. Drs. J. Maddison, J. B. Meredith Davies, Agnes V. Kelynack and E. Grey-Turner were all given special mention for the value of their work on the Society's behalf during the period under review. 3. Balance Sheet and Income and Expenditure Account The balance sheet and accounts for the 1957-8 session which had been published in the December, 1958, issue of P u ~ L l C H E A L T ~, were received and adopted. 4. Appointment of Auditors On the motion of Dr. H. D. Chalke, seconded by Dr. J. A. Byars, it was unanimously decided to reappoint Messrs. Greene, Clements and Company, chartered accountants, auditors for the current session. 5. Election of Members The election of one rejoined life member and of 56 new members was approved. 6. Election of Life Members It was moved from the chair and unanimously agreed that the following should be elected as life members: Malcolm Gross, M.z., B.s., D.P.I-I., formerly M.O.H., South Herts (No. 1) Combined Sanitary District, joined Society in 1928, recommended by the Home Counties Branch and nominated by Council; Edith C. Morris Jones, ~.B., B.s., D.P.I-I., formerly S.M.O., M. & C.W., Glos. C.C., joined Society in 1921, recommended by West of England Branch and nominated by Council; John O. Murray, M.D., Cn.B., D.l'.rI., formerly M.O.H. and Port Health M.O., Rochester, joined Society in 1921, recommended by Home Counties Branch and nominated by Council; Margaret Sproul, M.B., CH.B., O.P:n., formerly S.M.O. (M. & C.W.), Salford, joined Society in 1929, recommended by North Western Branch and nominated by Council. 7. Termination There being no further business, the president thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting at 1.20 p.m. SCHOOL
HEALTH
SERVICE
GROUP
The Council of the School Health Service Group has recently had under consideration the question of a memorial to the late Dr. A. A. E. Newth, formerly Principal School Medical Officer to the City of Nottingham. Dr. Newth was elected Honorary Secretary
274
PUBLIC
HEALTH
VOL. L X X I I I
NO. 7
of the Group when it was re-formed, in 1942, after having been inactive for many years, and he held that office continuously until 1957. During those 15 years he played a leading part in restoring the Group to full activity and was largely responsible for its attainment of the position of influence which it holds in the sphere of child health, both within and outside the Society. Apart from his work in the Society, he w a s regarded as one of the leading Principal School Medical Officers of his time and his services to the cause of school health work were outstanding. It has been decided to commemorate his services by the establishment of a prize, to be awarded annually. The conditions of award are not yet determined in detail, but while it will, in general, be awarded to medical Officers in the school health service for original published work, it is proposed that it may be occasionally awarded to persons who are not members of the school health service as such and that exceptionally it may be awarded for meritorious service to school health otherwise than by published papers. The Group will, from its own funds, set aside a substantial sum to found the prize, but it is felt that many past and present members of the Service would welcome the opportunity to be associated with the memorial. Accordingly it invites contributions from past and present members of the Society, not necessarily engaged principally in school health work, to the Newth Memorial Fund. Contributions, which should not exceed one guinea, should be sent to Dr. H. M. Cohen, the Honorary Treasurer of the Group, School Health Department, 102, Edmund Street, Birmingham.
Branch and Group Reports Midland Branch
C L I N I C A L P R E D I C T I O N IN PREVENTIVE MEDICINE The first meeting of the session was held at Lancaster Street Welfare Centre on 16th October with Dr. F. L. Ker, past president, in the chair in the absence of the president Dr. Ker, in the unavoidable absence of the retiring president and of the senior vicepresident, welcomed Dr. S. W. Savage and referred to his very considerable contribution generally to Public Health, and in particular, to the Midland Branch of the Society. He looked forward, and he believed he spoke for all members of the Branch in so doing, to a most interesting year under the guidance and inspiration of Dr. Savage and, thereupon, invited him to take the Chair. Dr. S A V A G E thanked Dr. Ker for his remarks, and having expressed his appreciation to the Branch for honouring him in this way, proceeded to deliver his presidential address entitled " Clinical Prediction in Preventive Medicine". He began by saying that this title really meant " H o w to find out what they are going to get before they get it", thus differing from Prediction in Clinical Medicine, or Prognosis. It was also basically different from spotting early defects. Dealing with long-term trends and excluding physical violence, it was possible
today to place entirely normal people in categories in such a way as to forecast their liability to contract certain diseases at a later date. We had long known the influence of heredity, the prevalence of diabetes in certain geographical localities, classification by blood groups and statistics of supposed and occupational hazards. The word "supposed" was used here because of Morris' finding that although 'bus drivers were more likely to get a coronary thrombosis than conductors the "coronary types" tended to choose 'bus driving rather than conducting, and these types had a similar future when they did not drive a 'bus. To construct one prediction system, Dr. Savage continued, there were four essentials: (a) a determination of significant morphological variables, (b) construction of a scheme into which types showing these variables could be placed, (c) ascertainment of numbers of each type present, and (d) studies to find out in which types the various illnesses occurred and their frequency. It was then possible to construct charts showing the number of individuals existing in all positions on the chart, the distribution of cases of well-defined disease and the precise risks for certain diseases for an individual placed in a particular position. Most of us believed in the importance of "constitution" and "free will" as factors in determining our