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
Hackney 1905
Report on the sanitary condition of the Hackney District for the year 1905
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103
APPENDIX.
MEMORANDUM ON HEALTH VISITORS.
By J. KING WARRY, M.D.,
Medical Officer of Health.
In preparing this memorandum, it is necessary before entering
upon any explanation of the duties, &c., of health visitors, to make
some reference to the present position of public health, and to the
progress made in London during the last half century; and this is
especially necessary, as such a resume will show in great measure
the lines along which public health progress has taken place, and
the special measures which have contributed to that result. It will,
at the same time, indicate the lines along which no progress has
been made, but, on the contrary, where retrogression is proceeding,
and consequently will show the direction in which public health
efforts should be pressed or guided if the progress of the past is to
be maintained.
Some idea of the change above referred to may be gleaned from the following table of statistics prepared from figures supplied by Dr. Tatham to the Royal Commission on Physical Degeneration:—
| Periods. | London. | Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate per 1,000 population. | Death rate per 1000, population. | ||
| 1851-1860 | 33.6 | 23.7 | 155 |
| 1861-1870 | 35.4 | 24.4 | 162 |
| 1871-1880 | 35.4 | 22.5 | 158 |
| 1881-1890 | 33.2 | 20.5 | 152 |
| 1891-1900 | 30.2 | 19.6 | 160 |
This table shows the general death rates, the infantile mortality,
and the birth rates during the five decennia ending 1900. It will be