Cylchgronau Cymru

of life' which has become such an important factor in modern life. This depends on such considerations as health, population pressure, housing, social security, fulfilment of individual needs, job satisfaction and several other social indicators. Even if we still cannot explain the geographical variations in the various diseases such variations are still important elements in the overall quality of a particular environment. Planners and medical men, in their several ways, though preferably in a concerted and co-ordinated effort, should examine critically areas where the death ratios are relatively high and life expectancy relatively low in relation to the areas of social deprivation. They should advise on measures thought most likely to bring about an amelioration in such areas and supervise their implementation, whether the measures are preventive or remedial. So far such an approach is rarely adopted. This is unfortunate for human progress should be judged by social as well as economic criteria. The provision of an improved environment is a prerequisite for a healthier nation. Society should not be satisfied until the prospects for existence, of life expectancy and quality of life are comparable in every part of the country and for people in every walk of life. A state of complete physical, mental and social well being should now be everyone's birthright at the end of a twentieth century of such remarkable scientific progress. The continued high levels of mortality for particular diseases in parts of Wales undoubtedly adds to the negative attributes of certain areas and surely should not be tolerated.