Editorial

Abstract

Hippieville is where it’s at, or words to that effect. The recent efflorescence of “ the scene” has brought its own problems, not the least medical; this could be all too graphically seen in the H aight-Ashbury district of San Francisco
this summer where a lemming migration ofdisenchanted American youth far outstripped the city’s hygiene and health provisions. A philosophy of not so much a programme more a way of life does not lend itself easily to
adequate sanitation, to efficient screeningagainst infectious diseases, to immunisation programmes for the young and to regular and orthodox nutrition; nor did the defiance of many of the hippies and the irritation of the authorities help matters. Sepsis, upper respiratory ailments, scrum hepatitis (from needle injections of drugs) and venereal disease were rife. The collateral dangers from exuberant use of narcotics and dubious pharmacological cocktails further complicated the picture.