Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1925
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Of the deaths registered, 886 or 50-5 per cent., took place either in poor law institutions, in hospitals or in mental hospitals, the percentages in the various classes of institutions being as under :—
| Per cent. | |
|---|---|
| Deaths in Workhouses or Workhouse Infirmaries | 33.3 |
| Metropolitan Asylums Board Hospitals | 1.2 |
| Mental Hospitals | 2.7 |
| other Hospitals | 13.3 |
| 50.5 |
Causes of Death.—The causes of deaths occurring in
the Borough during 1925 will be found in Table II,
page 15. From this it will be seen that the principal
causes of death were heart disease (259 deaths) ;
cancer (198 deaths) ; pneumonia (175 deaths) ; tuberculosis
(173 deaths) ; bronchitis (135 deaths). It
will be noticed that cancer still causes a heavy deathrate,
although there is a decrease of 23 deaths as compared
with the previous year. Pneumonia also shows
a decrease of 14 and bronchitis a decrease of 21 as compared
with the year 1924. Tuberculosis, however,
unfortunately shows a slight increase of 11 deaths.
Infantile Mortality.-—Of 1,754 deaths during 1925,
211, or 12-0 per cent., were of infants under one year
of age, and the rate of infantile mortality measured
by the proportion of deaths under one year of age to
the registered births was 76 per thousand, being 4
per thousand above that for 1924. Particulars of
the infantile mortality rate during previous years will
be found in Table I, column 2, page 11. It would
appear from the figures for the last five years that our
infantile mortality rate is becoming stabilised at round
about 70 per thousand births. This is by no means a
satisfactory figure for a Borough like Fulham. The
efforts and means taken to deal with the infantile
mortality in the Borough remained the same during
the past five years until towards the middle of 1925,
when an additional Health Visitor was appointed,
two additional clinics were opened and the part-time
services of the Assistant Superintendent at the Voluntary
Infant Welfare Centres were replaced by a whole-time
officer. It is hoped that these improvements may show
themselves during the next year or two in some decline
in the infantile mortality rate. The infantile mortality