18 OCTOBER 1935, Page 3

The Nation's Health The signature of Sir George Newman which

has appeared on so many reports of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health is now succeeded by that of the new chief officer, Dr. Arthur MacNalty. For the first time, he points out, since 1928, the birth-rate for England and Wales shows a slight increase, and the hole is expressed that the rise will be maintained. The death-rate, which was over 12 per 1,000 from 1981 to 1933, has fallen to 11.8, and mortality among infants under a year old, which also increased a little during the years of worst depression, reaches a new low record at 59 deaths per 1,000 births. The effects of unemploy- ment, Dr. MacNalty thinks, have been largely held in Cheek ; and even 'in Durham the Ministry's officers found no evidence of an alleged "substantial and pro- gressive deterioration of the public health." Never- theless the investigators' report, with its emphasis on damage to adolescents, makes grim reading ; and it is tight that he should find in it " no grounds for corn- Placency." A slight rise • in . maternal mortality, is another discouraging feature of a situation that otherwise seems much better than might have been expected. !‘or the future Dr. MacNalty relies largely on the force of public opinion. " The individual," he writes, " must pay the price of health in temperance, in self-control, in regular habits and in hygiene of mind and body."

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