18. Dr. Russell Thomasasked the Minister of Health, the percentage increase in the rate per i,000 living of cases of abdominal tuberculosis in children under 15 years of age in the London area in 1914, as compared with 1938?
§ Mr. E. BrownWar-time fluctuations of population do not permit of any precise calculation of such a percentage as my hon. Friend mentions for any year during the war.
Dr. ThomasHas not the London County Council medical officer stated in the British Medical Journal recently that the rate is 141 per cent. higher than 1938?
§ Mr. BrownYes, Sir, but this figure was based on assumptions, not detailed in the article, about changes in population. I am not asked for calculations of that kind; I am asked for precise information; and I have given my hon. Friend the answers.
§ Dr. Edith SummerskillIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that most of the cases of abdominal tuberculosis are attributable to infected milk?
Dr. ThomasIs the right hon. Gentleman aware too that the milk in London is nearly all pasteurised? How then does he explain the increase?