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5
Public Health Department,
Town Hall, S.E.10
May, 1949
To The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
«
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich.
I have the honour to submit the report on the health of the
Borough for the year 1948. It follows the same general lines as
preceding years, but owing to transfer of functions, some figures
relate to the first and second quarters of the year only.
The mid-year population is estimated to be 84,410, an increase
of 2,180 on the previous year.
The general death rate of 10.21 is less than that returned for
1947 or the recorded County or National figures.
It is pleasing again to return an Infantile Mortality rate of 26.
This equals the rate for 1947, itself an all time record for the Borough.
The comparable figure for 1901 was 130, and the average for the
five years 1917-1921 was 93.
It can thus be seen that the efforts of this Council through the
years in the field of Child Welfare have been well repaid. The
results achieved reflect great credit on the pioneers who laid the
foundations, and on those who built and extended the services
between the two World Wars.
The Section dealing with Infectious Disease shows that the
total of notifications received greatly outnumbered the return for
1947, though it was slightly less than 1946. The main factors
causing the increase were epidemics of Measles and Whooping
Cough in the second and third quarters.
Notification and death attributed to Tuberculosis were fewer
in the year under review and indicate an unexpectedly favourable
trend. It must be emphasized, however, that, while difficult
housing circumstances exist and delay in arranging institutional
isolation and treatment continues, the danger to the community
remains grave.