1119th General Monthly Meeting
The Celluloid Strip Mass Screening for Tuberculosis in Australia 1950 to 1975
Dr Peter J. Tyler
Medical historian and a Councillor of the Australian Society of the History of
Medicine.
Date: Wednesday, 3rd September, 2003
Time: 6:00 for 6:30 pm
Venue: Search & Discover Room, Australian Museum,
Collins St., Sydney (William St. entrance)
Tuberculosis was still a dreaded affliction at the end of the Second World War when the Commonwealth government funded a national campaign to detect and treat the disease. The technique of taking miniature X-ray photographs on movie film had been pioneered in Brazil in the 1930's and was introduced to Australia at the outset of the war as part of the medical examination of men enlisting in the armed forces.
Immediately after the war, the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of NSW expanded its existing clinic in Sydney to provide a mobile X-ray service to country areas and industry. That experience provided a model for the subsequent national campaign.
Coincidentally, at the same time as the compulsory national screening program commenced, the first effective therapy became available. Antibiotic drugs soon achieved results that long periods of rest in a sanatorium had never accomplished. Government funding was withdrawn when the incidence of tuberculosis diminished, so that by 1975 the ubiquitous X-ray caravans disappeared from street corners around Australia.
Using NSW as a case study, this lecture will describe the logistics of the mass screening campaign during the third quarter of the twentieth century and the technological developments that made it possible. It will also consider whether the declining morbidity of tuberculosis should be attributed to this effort or to other factors.
Peter Tyler holds postgraduate qualifications in history from the University of New England, where he researched the development of public health services in New South Wales. He is a Councilor of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, and edits the Society newsletter, Medical History Australia. He has just completed the manuscript for a history of Community Health and Tuberculosis Australia, an organisation that is celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this year. Dr Tyler has a particular interest in the contribution of voluntary associations to Australian society. He has worked as chief executive of associations involved with adult education, environmental health, rehabilitation, and the construction industry. His jubilee history of the Australian Institute of Building, To Provide a Joint Conscience, was published in 2001.
Report on the General Monthly Meeting
by John Hardy
The 1119th September Ordinary General Meeting was held at the Search and Discover Room at the Australian Museum. 30 members and visitors attended. Visitors included members of Community Health and TB Australia (CHATA).
Peter's talk entitled The Celluloid Strip - Mass Screening for Tuberculosis in Australia, 1950-75 gave a fascinating insight into the background of tuberculosis and its incidence in Australia leading to the introduction of the mass screening program.
Tuberculosis was still a dreaded affliction at the end of the Second World War when the Commonwealth government funded a national campaign to detect and treat the disease. The technique of taking miniature X-ray photographs on movie film had been pioneered in Brazil in the 1930's and was introduced to Australia at the outset of the war as part of the medical examination of men enlisting in the armed forces.
Immediately after the war, the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of NSW expanded its existing clinic in Sydney to provide a mobile X-ray service to country areas and industry. That experience provided a model for the subsequent national campaign.
Coincidentally, at the same time as the compulsory national screening program commenced, the first effective therapy became available. Antibiotic drugs soon achieved results that long periods of rest in a sanatorium had never accomplished. Government funding was withdrawn when the incidence of tuberculosis diminished, so that by 1975 the ubiquitous X-ray caravans disappeared from street corners around Australia.
Using NSW as a case study, the lecture described the logistics of the mass screening campaign during the third quarter of the twentieth century and the technological developments that made it possible. Discussion following the talk considered whether the declining morbidity of tuberculosis should be attributed to this effort or to other factors.
A vote of thanks was moved by John Hardy and carried by acclamation by the capacity audience.