New scheme will help research the health of people who smoke and the trends in a number of diseases.
For the first time patients due to undergo an X-ray are asked about their smoking habits, and the details and results are analysed by computer.
The Mass Radiography Board carries out pioneering work in the field of preventive medicine. Minister for Health Seán Flanagan undergoes a chest X-ray in a mobile unit in O'Connell Street, Dublin. This van is one of nine operated by the board.
The minister fills in an application form which is in card format. The form now asks each X-ray applicant if they smoke and the number of cigarettes they smoke each day.
The Mass Radiography Board has installed a computer to collate, tabulate and analyse the information given on the card. Chairman of the Mass Radiography Board, Paul Rowan is confident the computerised system of analysis will produce some useful statistics and trends.
Hitherto we haven’t been able to establish trends regarding age groups, male, female and the types of diseases which we’ve been able to throw up like bronchitis, tuberculosis, cancer of the lung etc.
Now it is possible to say with certainty that tuberculosis is more prevalent among people over 40 years of age.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 January 1968. The reporter is Kevin O’Kelly.
