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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Edmonton, N.9.
Telephone No: EDMonton 3000
Ext. 16.
HIS WORSHIP THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS
OF THE BOROUGH OF EDMONTON
Your Worship, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Though the vital statistics for 1959 are less favourable than
in previous years there were nevertheless the signs of improvement in
the health of Edmonton. The number of cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
notified fell from 58 to 49 and there was no increase in the number of
cases on the register. The number of cases of Food Poisoning notified
fell sharply, and there was a marked increase in the number of parents
who accepted immunization (against Diphtheria or Whooping Cough) for
their children. On the other hand Edmonton suffered both a Dysentery
epidemic and an Influenza epidemic, there were sporadic cases of Poliomyelitis
during the summer, there was an increase in the number of deaths
from accidents, and both the general death rate and the infant mortality
rate rose.
As was reported in the 1958 report Mr. Farrar retired at the
end of 1958 and Mr. G. Rawlinson succeeded him as Senior Public Health
Inspector on the 2nd March, 1959. Mr. Farrar returned in a temporary
capacity to fill the gap during January and February and I was more
than grateful for his assistance. The staff of Public Health Inspectors
was, as I mentioned in the 1958 report, considerably depleted by the end
of 1958 and for the first two months of 1959 there were only four Public
Health Inspectors, and for the months of March and April only three permanent
inspectors. Mr. Grieves however returned from retirement to assist
us, and the vacancies were progressively filled during the succeeding
months. The department was therefore able to carry out a full programme
of work for almost the whole of the second half of the year. During the
year among other work 300 houses were represented for slum clearance and
a large smoke control area was surveyed.
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