London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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64
Cancer.
The deaths1 from cancer in the Administrative County of London during 1909 (365 days),
numbered 4,706, as compared with 4,628 for the 366 davs of 1908.
The death-rates from this disease in successive periods have been as follows:— Cancer.
| Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851-60 | 0.42 | 1903 | 0.961 |
| 1861-70 | 0.48 | 1904 | 0.921 |
| 1871-80 | 0.55 | 1905 | 0.931 |
| 1881-90 | 0.68 | 1906 | 0.981 |
| 1891-1900 | 0.85 | 1907 | 0.95l |
| 1901 | 0.881 | 1908 | 0.961 |
| 1902 | 0.931 | 1909 | 0.971 |
For the purpose of enabling the incidence of cancer on the several populations of the sanitary
areas to be more precisely stated, factors have been calculated for correcting the death-rates, as far
as possible, for differences in the age and sex constitution of the several populations concerned.
These factors are shown in the following table, together with the death-rates for each sanitary area,
corrected by their application.
Cancer. Crude and corrected death-rates1 per 1,000 persons living in the County of London and the several sanitary districts.
| Sanitary area. | Standard death-rate.8 | Factor for correction for age and sex distribution. | Crude death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Corrected death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Comparative mortality figure (London 1,000). | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904-8 | 1909. | 1904-8. | 1909. | 1904-8. | 1909. | |||
| London | 0.87 | 1.00000 | 0.95 | 0.97 | 0.95 | 0.97 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Paddington | 0.98 | 0.89478 | 1.14 | 1.01 | 1.02 | 0.91 | 1,072 | 930 |
| Kensington | 1.02 | 0.85622 | 1.04 | 1.18 | 0.89 | 1.01 | 936 | 1,034 |
| Hammersmith | 0.90 | 0.96811 | 1.06 | 0.91 | 1.03 | 0.88 | 1,086 | 901 |
| Fulham | 0.77 | 1.13828 | 0.84 | 0.82 | 0.96 | 0.93 | 1,011 | 954 |
| Chelsea | 1.03 | 0.84874 | 1.07 | 1.14 | 0.90 | 0.97 | 954 | 996 |
| Westminster, City of | 0.96 | 0.91348 | 1.05 | 1.19 | 0.96 | 1.09 | 1,008 | 1,116 |
| St. Marylebone | 0.99 | 0.88571 | 1.20 | 1.30 | 1.06 | 1.15 | 1,117 | 1,183 |
| Hampstead | 092 | 0.94816 | 0.91 | 0.91 | 0.86 | 0.87 | 910 | 889 |
| St. Pancras | 0.92 | 0.95229 | 1.03 | 1.03 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 1,039 | 1,005 |
| Islington | 0.90 | 0.96704 | 1.02 | 101 | 0.99 | 0.98 | 1,042 | 1,007 |
| Stoke Newington | 0.98 | 0.89387 | 1.11 | 1.14 | 1.00 | 1.02 | 1,051 | 1,045 |
| Hackney | 0.88 | 0.99341 | 0.88 | 0.92 | 0.87 | 0.91 | 918 | 936 |
| Holborn | 0.95 | 0.91924 | 0.95 | 1.23 | 0.88 | 1.13 | 925 | 1,158 |
| Finsbury | 0.84 | 1.04071 | 0.84 | 0.95 | 0.87 | 0.99 | 917 | 1,020 |
| London, City of | 1.06 | 0.82316 | 1.39 | 1.48 | 1.14 | 1.22 | 1,204 | 1,254 |
| Shoreditch | 0.79 | 1.10518 | 0.82 | 0.84 | 0.91 | 0.92 | 961 | 948 |
| Bethnal Green | 0.78 | 1.12077 | 0.87 | 0.91 | 0.98 | 1.02 | 1,034 | 1,052 |
| Stepney | 0.74 | 1.17976 | 0.78 | 0.67 | 0.92 | 0.79 | 965 | 807 |
| Poplar | 0.81 | 1.08327 | 0.78 | 0.87 | 0.85 | 0.94 | 895 | '970 |
| Southwark | 0.82 | 1.06350 | 0.91 | 0.89 | 0.97 | 0.94 | 1,025 | 967 |
| Bermondsey | 0.81 | 1.08462 | 0.88 | 1.12 | 0.96 | 1.22 | 1,009 | 1,248 |
| Lambeth | 0.92 | 0.95333 | 1.04 | 1.18 | 1.00 | 1.13 | 1,050 | 1,156 |
| Battersea | 0.79 | 1.10798 | 0.92 | 0.98 | 1.02 | 1.09 | 1,080 | 1,119 |
| Wandsworth | 0.88 | 0.99116 | 0.95 | 0.92 | 0.95 | 0.92 | 998 | 940 |
| Camberwell | 0.87 | 1.00483 | 0.90 | 0.93 | 0.91 | 0.94 | 958 | 963 |
| Deptford | 0.81 | 1.07396 | 0:86 | 0.89 | 0.93 | 0.95 | 977 | 975 |
| Greenwich | 0.87 | 1.01064 | 0.84 | 0.78 | 0.85 | 0.79 | 900 | 813 |
| Lewisham | 0.92 | 0.95333 | 0.92 | 0.97 | 0.88 | 0.92 | 929 | 949 |
| Woolwich | 0.78 | 1.11933 | 0.81 | 0.90 | 0.90 | 1.01 | 951 | 1,034 |
It will be seen from the foregoing table (comparing the corrected death.rates) that in the quinquennium
1904-8 among the several sanitary areas the City of London (1.14) had the highest cancer
death.rate and Greenwich and Poplar (0.85) the lowest; in the year 1909, the City of London and
Bermondsey (1.22) had the highest, the lowest obtaining in Stepney and Greenwich (0.79).
See footnote (2), page 6.
2 See footnote (2), page 56.