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 1909
Fifty-fourth annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington
This page requires JavaScript
190
1909]
The returns show also that out of 8,317 births, 595 died before the infants could be vaccinated, thus leaving 7,222 that were liable to the operation, and as 5,595 of these were vaccinated, the percentage of vaccinations to those liable was 72.4, which is 4.5 per cent. less than in the preceding year. The figures since 1882 are very instructive, for they show that from that year to the present time there has been a very gradual but steady diminution in the vaccinations per 100 births, less the infants who died unvaccinated; in 1882 the percentage was 91.1; in 1908 it was only 72.4.
| Years. | Vaccinations per 100 births, less infants who died unvaccinated. | Years. | Vaccinations per 100 births, less infants who died unvaccinated. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 89.8 | 1895 | 70.9 |
| 1881 | 90.8 | 1896 | 73.9 |
| 1882 | 91.1 | 1897 | 73.3 |
| 1883 | 90.4 | 1898 | 64.9 |
| 1884 | 90.5 | 1899 | 66.4 |
| 1885 | 90.6 | 1900 | 67.9 |
| 1886 | 90.8 | 1901 | 75.8 |
| 1887 | 90.4 | 1902 | 80.0 |
| 1888 | 88.4 | 1903 | 8l.2 |
| 1889 | 89.0 | 1904 | 82.3 |
| 1890 | 89.3 | 1905 | 80.5 |
| 1891 | 87.4 | 1906 | 79.9 |
| 1892 | 85.5 | 1907 | 76.9 |
| 1893 | 85.0 | 1908 | 72.4 |
| 1894 | 84.0 |
If one might judge by the manner in which the exemption certificates
increase, even this low figure will diminish.
Exemption Certificates—Since 1897, the first year in which exemption
certificates were granted to conscientious objectors, they have risen from 14 to
588 in 1908. This matter is of so much importance that the particulars for each
year are herewith set out.
1897 14 1903 103
1898 103 1904 89
1899 101 1905 110
1900 127 1906 123
1901 106 1907 259
1902 73 1908 588
This large increase in 1908 was to a certainty due to the Vaccination Act
passed on the 28th August, 1907, in which it was enacted by section 1 as
follows:—
(1) "No parent or other person shall be liable to any penalty, under
section 29 or section 31 of the Vaccination Act of 1867, if within four
months from the birth of the child he makes a statutory declaration that
he conscientiously believes that vaccination would be prejudicial to the
health of the child, and within seven days thereafter delivers or sends
by post the declaration to the vaccination officer of the district.