§ 43. Sir Patrick Hannonasked the Minister of Health whether he can inform the House of the result of his recent appeal for propagandist effort in the prevention of the spread of diphtheria; and whether the response to his appeal by the Press of the country and by local authorities has been satisfactory?
§ Miss HorsbrughMore than 100 local authorities in England and Wales are already using the service of Press advertisements, leaflets and cinema slides recently made available for them with the help of the Ministry of Information and the General Council for Health Education, and I hope that more will do so within the next few weeks. My right hon. Friend's appeal has met with valuable support from the national and provincial Press, the women's magazines, the British Broadcasting Corporation, cinema exhibitors and the health departments of local authorities, and I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing my right hon. Friend's warm thanks for their help and that of the hon. Members who are assisting him in his campaign.
§ Sir P. HannonIs the appeal being continued to the local authorities and the Press, and will they keep urging the people to observe the rules laid down by the Ministry of Health?
§ Miss HorsbrughYes, the appeal is being continued, and the scheme will, I think, go forward satisfactorily.
§ Sir F. FremantleDoes the hon. Lady realise that some poisonous documents are being circulated and a large amount of paper is being used? Can they not be 287 suppressed, both in the interests of the salvage of paper and in the public interests?
§ Miss HorsbrughThe hon. Member will realise that questions relating to the salvage of paper should be addressed to another Department. The main point is to get the facts out to the public as clearly as possible so that they can guard against these documents which are being distributed.