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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Camberwell, S.E.5.
September 1st, 1950.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell.
Mr. Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
This report on the health of the inhabitants of the Borough
in 1949, has been prepared in accordance with the directions of
the Ministry of Health.
On the whole, the health of the Borough continued to be
satisfactory, as evidenced by the vital statistics. The general
death rate was 11.9 per 1,000 total population compared with
11.4 in the previous year. The infant mortality rate of 24 per
1,000 live births was the lowest ever recorded in Camberwell.
There was a substantial decrease in the number of deaths from
respiratory tuberculosis —79 as compared with 101 in 1948.
Deaths from non-respiratory tuberculosis numbered 15 as against
16 in the previous year. Deaths attributed to poliomyelitis
(including polio-encephalitis) numbered 2 as compared with one
in the previous year, and diphtheria was responsible for only one
death. The total number of deaths was 2,135, as against 2,032
in 1948.
The number of cases of infectious diseases which occurred
in the Borough during the year included 1,200 measles, 229
whooping cough, 340 scarlet fever, 13 diphtheria, 26 acute
poliomyelitis, 9 dysentery and 2 paratyphoid fever. Notifications
of tuberculosis numbered 478 in 1949 and 391 in the
previous year. The birth rate of 16.7 was the lowest since 1945.
The Council continued to devote a great deal of attention to
the housing problem and much progress was made. One hundred
and thirty new houses were completed and 216 were in the
course of erection at the end of the year under review. Alternative
housing accommodation was provided for 390 families. The
total number of families for whom accommodation had been
provided up to 31st December, 1949, was 9,705. The reasonable
maintenance of the properties requisitioned by the Council
presents some difficult problems. Defects in a large number of
these houses appear frequently and this can readily be understood
when it is remembered that most of them are old properties
and had been damaged by bombing. The supervision of
other properties in the Borough has thrown a heavy burden on
to the District Sanitary Inspectors. Complaints numbered 8,024
in 1949. The continued maintenance of old houses in a proper