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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
BETHNAL GREEN, E.2.,
June, 1954.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report on the health and
sanitary circumstances of the Borough for the year 1953.
Fortunately during the year there were no major epidemics nor was
there any recurrence of the disastrous "smog" which affected the
Borough towards the end of the previous year. This Is reflected in
the reduced death rate for 1953.
The real improvement in the health of the public is less easy to
measure. There has undoubtedly been some improvement and the degree
of improvement bears some relationship to the standard of living of
the population. Nearly two hundred new flats were provided by the
Borough Council, a proportionate number of bad, insanitary and
crowded houses were pulled down. It is very evident that the
standard of housing demanded is now considerably higher than it was
a few years ago and requisitioned property which rarely contains a
bath or hot water supply, but which was previously accepted very
readily, is now not infrequently declined if the applicant has even
a remote chance of a new dwelling within a year or more.
The standard of housekeeping has also risen and although there
always was a large number of people who maintained a high standard it
is obvious, when visiting a number of houses, that the decoration,
furnishing and general care of houses is better than ever before. It
appears that the improved economic circumstances of the people, the
greater availability of goods in the shops and, perhaps, the "do-ityourself"
campaign in the press have all assisted in bringing about
this result, but whatever the reasons it is a most satisfactory trend.