Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 15 November 1929

Gospel of Health

 Wombwell’s War on Disease

“Cleanliness Is Godliness.”

Wombwell has been holding its first “Health Week.” For the past few days the local authority have been concentrating on the principles of hygiene, and various means of enlightenment have been introduced with a view to spreading the gospel of health and wholesomeness of living among the people. The question of individual responsibility for the preservation of cleanness in private and public life has been emphasised in many ways. At the instance of the Public Health Department the Wombwell Urban District Council have prosecuted a ruthless campaign against filth and defilement in all its guises.

Well Served Wombwell.

In connection with the campaign a brochure was prepared and distributed publicly. This opened with a foreword by the Chairman of the Council (Mr. J. A. Hall), in which the claim was made that health services and facilities available in Wombwell are far in advance of those in many districts of similar size.

“Two of the principal services necessary for good health are a plentiful supply of pure water and adequate means for the disposal of sewage. In these Wombwell is fortunate. The town has a good and continuous supply of water and is provided with three sewage disposal works.”

A page of the handbook was devoted to vital statistics. This covered the period of the last twenty years, during which time the population of Wombwell has increased from 15,115 to 20,320. The number of houses now occupied is 3178, as against 4298. Remarkable are the birth and death rate figures. The number of births in 1908 was 633 as against 419 in 1918 with a larger population. The comparative birth rates are: 1908, 41.5 per thousand, 1928, 20.6 per thousand. On the smaller population there were 308 deaths in 1908 as against 199 only last year. The comparative death rates are 20.1 and 9.4. During the period mentioned there has been an amazing reduction in infantile mortality, the figures being: 1908, 185 per thousand: 1926, 54.8 The death rate for England and Wales in 1228 was 11.7, and that for Wombwell 9.4.

The Simple Rules of Health.

Under the heading of “Public Health” the following comment is made: “These figures speak for themselves and show better than words can tell the great improvement that has taken place. There is no doubt that this progress is due on the one hand to the ever improving treatment of diseases by medicine and surgery—both of which have now reached such high standards, and on the other hand to the improvement in public health administration. It is only during recent years that it has come to be recognised that many of the illnesses—if not most —from which people suffer are due to lack of knowledge by them of the simple rules of health. It is not enough to wait until people become ill and then for medicine or surgery to cure or relieve them.”

A short article was devoted to maternity and child welfare. In it the work of the clinics was outlined, and reference was made to the steps taken by the local health authority to lessen the risk of maternal mortality by admission to the new maternity ward at Mexborough Hospital and by the arrangement of weekly ante-natal clinics at the Wombwell Library.