Genetical Structure of Populations

is not true if the education is carried out correctly. No general practitioner can doubt that the majority of the so-called neurotics who " live on his doorstep " do so in the hope that they may be told they have not got cancer, but are too frightened to mention the word. Cancer education is being carried out in many countries, and the Americans have done so on a very large scale; but what is the right method in one country will certainly not suit another. In Britain it is a statutory obligation on the part of the local authorities to carry out all health education. It is to be hoped that in the near future the local authorities will undertake this education in connexion with cancer, as with our present knowledge it is the only hope of making earlier diagnosis and lowering the appalling mortality of this disease. Meanwhile, it would seem a wise step to try out a pilot scheme in an area with a population of four or five million people. Such a scheme might be carried out in more than one area, with different methods. It should not take more than one or two years to obtain the results of such an experiment.