Welsh Journals

SUPPLEMENT TO THE WELSH OUTLOOK THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS THE KING EDWARD VII. WELSH NATIONAL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION: ITS ACHIEVEMENTS AND OBJECTS. IT is the purpose of this supplement to show in bold outline the objects which the Welsh National Memorial Association set out to attain, the measure of the achievement which can be placed to its credit, and the nature of the further development in the work which may be anticipated as soon as the hampering restrictions im- posed by War conditions are removed. In the tables of mortality from tuberculosis, some of the counties of rural Wales always occupied a position of unenviable pre-eminence. The Association was accord- ingly formed on September 30, 1910, at a Welsh National conference held at Shrewsbury, for the inauguration of a national campaign for the eradication of tuberculosis as a Welsh National Memorial to King Edward VII. and on the 17th of May, 1912, it was incorporated by Royal Charter. The period September, 1910 to December, 1911, was spent in promoting a vigorous anti-tuberculosis campaign throughout Wales and Monmouthshire by means of public meetings and conferences, visits of a splendidly-equipped anti-tuberculosis exhibition and a staff of lecturers to the centres of population in all the thirteen Welsh counties, and the spreading of the gospel of prevention and good health in the rural areas by means of lecturing caravan tours. A National Memorial fund was opened, headed by donations of £ 125,000 from one family-aM this was supplemented by other donations and collections,-one prominent feature being a vigorous house-to-house canvass in hundreds of localities; and the total of this fund amounts at the present time to close upon a quarter of a million. Out of this fund the Association, assisted by grants from the Treasury, meets all the capital expenditure in the provision of Sanatoria and Hospitals. The Associa- tion commenced the actual work of treatment of patients in July, 1912. The Association has entered into contracts with all the Insurance Committees in Wales and Monmouthshire for the treatment of insured persons suffering from tuberculosis in return for a sum of 9d. per head per insured person out of the Sanatorium Benefit Fund of each such Com- mittee. The cost of maintenance in respect of the FEBRUARY, 1919 institutions and of administration is met out of the income derived from the invested funds of the Association, the contributions from Insurance Committees, and Treasury grants in respect of income from sums invested and in respect of interest on capital invested. The deficiency is allocated between the County and County Borough Councils in Wales and Monmouthshire (Pembrokeshire excluded) and the Treasury, the Asscciation having under- taken, in return for the moiety from the local authorities named, to extend treatment to non-insured persons equally with insured persons. The Association is so constituted as to provide for the thorough representation of the statutory authorities- County Councils, County Borough Councils, and In- surance Committees-which are directly charged with the spending of public funds on matters comprised within the objects of the Association. Of the 80 members of the Council, 32 are appointed directly by County Councils and County Borough Councils, and 21 are appointed directly by the Insurance Committees. The Factors in a Successful Fight By Sir William Osier, Bart., M.D., F.R.S., Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford. In the battle against tuberculosis the Principality alone, among the units of the Kingdom, has taken the wise course-in presenting a solid front to the enemy. The Welsh Memorial Association is a central body which deals, or should deal, with every aspect of the campaign- home conditions, professional co-operation, nurses, sanitary officials, dispensaries, hospitals and sanatoria, and the scientific study of the disease. An essential preliminary in a successful warfare is to know your enemy-where he is, who is he, who are his allies, and how is he most success- fully attacked ? I. Tuberculosis is the most widely spread of all infec- tions, and few of us reach adult life without harbouring somewhere a few germs. Potentially we are all tuberculous, and the infection takes place within the first two decades. That we do not all become actually diseased is due to an acquired immunity by which the body is able to segregate the invaders in small and not vital districts.