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8
Town Hall,
S.E.10.
May, 1948.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich.
Madam Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit the report on the health of the
Borough for the year 1947.
This may be the last occasion that the report will appear in its
present form, as the " appointed day " for the transfer of Personal
Health Services to the County Council will be July 5th, 1948.
It is, therefore, very satisfactory to put before you Vital
Statistics which include an Infantile Mortality Rate of 26. This is
the lowest figure ever recorded for the Borough, and it compares
favourably with the National rate of 41, and the County rate of 37
The Birth Rate of 23.61 is the highest since 1920, and shows a
slight increase on the figure for the previous year.
The general Death Rate of 11.61 compares favourably with
that for 1946, and is well below the ten year average.
Infectious Diseases Notifications were again below the average.
A slight increase in the notification of Scarlet Fever and the local
manifestation of the widespread outbreak of Poliomyelitis (wrongly
termed Infantile Paralysis) were noticeable features. Reference to
the monthly and topographical incidence of the fortunately few
cases of' Polio ' will be found in the body of the report.
Special reference is made to the Council's Anti-Fly and Rodent
Control schemes. The former, although a pioneer effort, was considered
a success, and the Public Health Committee decided to
sponsor a more comprehensive scheme for 1948.
The year 1947 was outstanding from a climatic aspect, and
special perusal of the excellent meteorological review included by
courtesy of the Astronomer Royal is recommended.
A survey of underground water supplies was undertaken by
direction of the Ministry of Health, and a record is included in
Section C.