London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Bethnal Green 1943
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bethnal Green Borough]
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Visits of Health Visitors.
| 1936-8 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babies (O-l) | 12,577 | 8,993 | 9,757 | 4,109 | 4,764 | 7,646 |
| Children(l-5) | 13,880 | 10,044 | 13,317 | 7,580 | 4,826 | 6,730 |
| Mothers ante natal | 1,374 | 1,157 | 674 | 256 | 317 | 850 |
| " post natal | 367 | 128 | 75 | 37 | 49 | 98 |
| Total visits & revisits: 31,242, 21, 476, 23, 356, 13,841, 11,415, 17,04 | ||||||
Although there are fewer mothers end children to deal with
as compared with 1939 end earlier years, it must be remembered that the
work in the homer and at the Welfare Centre is much more complicated
end difficult as a result of war conditions. In these circumstances,
it is particularly creditable to the staff that the attendances at
the Welfare Centre, and the visits in the homes should be brought
to such a comparatively high level. The re-organisation of the
work in 1942 end the return of the remainder of the staff to health
visiting have no doubt also contributed to this.
DISEASE
In the absence of fuller information as to the illness among
the community, 1 can only furnish the limited facts which come to me
as Medical Officer of Health concerning the infectious diseases.
The following figures show the general trend throughout the war, but it will be borne in mind that the years 1939-41, were considerably affected by the evacuation of a large part of the child population :
| 1933-38 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | _1943 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measles | (average) ( 254) + (1143) | 23 | 187 | 489 | 786 | 357 |
| Whooping Cough | ( 410) ( 250) + | 312 | 10 | 345 | 160 | 193 |
| Tuberculosis | 134 | 101 | 82 | 96 | 116 | 101 |
| Other infectious Disease | 951 | 566 | 272 | 309 | 288 | 478 |
+ In view of the biennial incidence of these diseases, separate
figures for 1957 and 1938 are given instead of the triennial average.
The biennial fall in the incidence of Measles was counterbalanced
by a small increase in Whooping Cough, Pneumonia, and
Dysentery.