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
Greenwich 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
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19
The 1949 Report of the Royal Commission on Population
indicated inter alia the trend during recent years towards an ageing
population and, as one would expect, the number of deaths in the
older groups increases at approximately a similar rate. Conversely,
the deaths in the lower age groups show a remarkable decline since
the beginning of the century.
It will be observed from the following table that during 1953
the deaths occurring at 65 years and upwards accounted for 64.9%
of the total compared with a figure of 22.8% for 1901.
Deaths in the age group 0-5 years show an even more striking comparison: in 1901 the deaths in this group amounted to 37.4% whilst the figure for the current year is 3.7%.
| Age Group | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1953 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year of age | 362 | 306 | 175 | 97 | 29 | 24 |
| Between 1 and 5 years | 187 | 158 | 80 | 39 | 7 | 8 |
| Between 5 and 15 years | 64 | 67 | 58 | 22 | 10 | 6 |
| Between 15 and 25 years | 66 | 60 | 67 | 65 | 12 | 7 |
| Between 25 and 65 years | 454 | 474 | 466 | 382 | 311 | 252 |
| 65 years and over | 335 | 356 | 387 | 529 | 633 | 550 |
| Totals | 1,468 | 1,421 | 1,243 | 1,134 | 1,002 | 847 |
MATERNAL MORTALITY
There were no deaths from Puerperal Sepsis or other Maternal
causes during the current year compared with 3 recorded for 1952.
Four deaths were registered for the year 1951 and the corresponding
figures for 1950, 1949, 1948 and 1947 were 0, 1, 2, and 4
respectively.
INFANTILE MORTALITY
The Infantile Mortality Rate, measured by the deaths of
children under one year of age to the number of live births registered
was 18.10 per thousand live births as compared with 14.62 for the
previous year. For the County of London the rate was 24.8 and
for England and Wales 26.8 per 1,000 related live births.
The present rate of 18.10 although very satisfactory, shows an
increase of 3.48 over that of 1952. Nevertheless the current year
is the second in the history of the Borough to yield a rate below 20,
a figure once considered an irreducible minimum.
The total number of deaths during the year was 24, an increase
of 5 over that of 1952. Due to a mechanical error in computation