London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1902
Forty-seventh annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Borough of Islington
This page requires JavaScript
269
[1902
matter, because ill-ventilated workshops have been some of the
most fruitful sources of this disease. And it will enable special
attention to be drawn to the habit of spitting, which is so
common in these places.
7.—It will afford an opportunity of obtaining information as to the
part different occupations or trades play in the distribution of the
disease.
The se are all important objects, and I have not the least doubt will tend
to the decrease in the number of deaths from Phthisis.
During the last thirty years, but especially during the last ten years, there has been a gradual decrease in these deaths throughout England and Wales, as may be seen from the following figures:—
| Deaths all ages per million of the population. | Deaths under 5 years per million living at this age. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1851-60 | 2,579 | 1.329 |
| 1861-70 | 2,467 | 990 |
| 1871-80 | 2,209 | 783 |
| 1881-85 | 1,927 | 584 |
| 1886-90 | 1,781 | 521 |
| 1891-95 | 1,634 | 467 |
| 1896-99 | 1,521 | 403 |
The great decrease in the mortality has been due mainly to:—
1.— Improved drainage.
2.—The abatement of overcrowding.
3.—The improvement that has taken place in the conditions under
which the labouring classes live.
4.—Better and more wholesome food.
This is well demonstrated in the case of young children, among whom the
mortality is only one third of what it was forty years ago, while at all ages it
is only three-fifths of what it was.
These sanitary measures were mainly directed against other diseases than
Phthisis, and on them the effect was very marked.