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THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON
Public Health Department,
Hornton Street,
KENSINGTON, W.8.
16th June, 1952.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington.
My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have much pleasure in presenting the Annual Report
on the state of the public health in Kensington for 1951.
The Minister of Health has again requested (Circular
42/51) that the report should be in the same abbreviated
form as has been the case for some years past.
The public health in Kensington during the year under
review was maintained at a satisfactory standard.
Population. The Registrar-General's estimate
(171,300) of the population of the Borough for 1951 showed
a decrease over the figure for the previous year (177,400).
The actual population figure for Kensington obtained as
a result of the 1951 Census was 168,051+.
Birth rate. The number of births per 1,000 population
of the borough was 15.5 in 1951, equivalent to the figure
recorded for the previous year. The Kensington birth
rate was lower than that for the County of London (17.8),
and the same as that for the whole of England and Wales(15.5).
Death rate. The number of deaths per 1,000 population
was 11.2, an increase compared with last year (10.4),
but lower than the death rate for the County of London
(13.1) and that for England and Wales (12.5).
Infant death rate. The number of deaths of infants
under one year per 1,000 live births declined from 28
in 1950 to 24 in 1951. This figure equalled the lowest
rate ever recorded in Kensington (24 in 1949), and was
lower than the infant death rate for the County of
London (26.4) and that for England and Wales (29.6).
Maternal death rate. There were unfortunately three
deaths of mothers due to childbirth recorded in 1951,
compared with five for the previous year. The maternal
mortality rate was 1.10 compared with a rate of 0.79 for
England and Wales. (The figure for London is not yet
available.)
Infectious diseases. There was no serious outbreak
of infectious disease in the borough during 1951; the
total number of notifications received was 2,479 compared
with 1,716 in 1950. These figures represent an increase
of over 44% The main reason for this increase was the
biennial epidemic of measles which resulted in 1,314
notifications in 1951, compared with only 696 the previous
year. In fact, excluding the figures for measles and
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