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
Finsbury 1903
Report on the public health of 1903
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Mortality from All Causes at Subjoined Ages, 1898—1903.
| At all Ages. | Under 1 Year. | 1 and under 5. | 5 and under 15. | 15 and under 25. | 25 and under 65. | 65 and upwards. | Total Birth Rate. | Total Death Rate. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898 | 2,480 | 682 | 409 | 79 | 80 | 831 | 399 | 33·7 | 24·4 |
| 1899 | 2,629 | 662 | 363 | 87 | 84 | 940 | 493 | 32·9 | 25·8 |
| 1900 | 2,479 | 574 | 351 | 76 | 78 | 937 | 462 | 32·1 | 24·4 |
| 1901 | 2,161 | 533 | 290 | 82 | 94 | 764 | 398 | 37·3 | 21·3 |
| 1902 | 2,283 | 558 | 339 | 81 | 82 | 805 | 418 | 36·0 | 22·7 |
| Average for 5 years | 2,406 | 602 | 350 | 81 | 83 | 855 | 434 | 34·4 | 23·7 |
| 1903 | 1,993 | 503 | 268 | 53 | 78 | 716 | 375 | 31·4 | 19·8 |
INFANTILE MORTALITY,
The infantile mortality of a district is the annual number of
deaths of children under one year of age to every thousand births
during the same year. Such a return is of considerable value, as it
is one of the most reliable tests of the health of a community and of
the sanitary condition of a district. It has a characteristic value
for two reasons, migration does not greatly affect the distribution
of deaths at this early age, and life is very susceptible to its
surroundings. Hence such a record of deaths affords a delicate
index as to the prevalence of disease and the external circumstances
of life affecting it.
During 1903, as we have seen, there were 3,664 births in
Finsbury. This includes the births in the City Eoad Lying-in
Hospital. The total deaths of infants under one year was 503, out
of the whole total of deaths of 1,993. The infantile mortality rate