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and the rate is one fifth of the corresponding figures for 1943 as the
following table will indicate :—
Year No. of Deaths Rate
1943 60 0.94
1944 50 0.81
1945 53 0.82
1946 75 0.97
1947 69 0.82
1948 62 0.73
1949 46 0.53
1950 44 0.49
1951 35 0.39
1952 32 0.35
10-year Average 52 0.68
1953 18 0.19
Tuberculosis of the Respiratory System is, as usual, credited
with the major portion of these deaths, there being 16 attributed
to the cause, equalling a Rate of 0.17 as compared with 0.32 for the
previous year.
Locally the deaths were : 3 in East Greenwich ; 4 in West
Greenwich ; 3 in St. Nicholas, Deptford ; and 6 in Charlton and
Kidbrooke.
The remaining forms of Tuberculosis were responsible for 2
deaths, 1 of which occurred in East Greenwich and 1 in West
Greenwich.
Cancer.—Cancer is generally considered to be a disease of
middle and old age and, as indicated in my Annual Report for 1950,
as the proportion of middle-aged and elderly persons in the population
becomes greater, one would normally expect a rise in the
incidence of this disease. In addition, improved diagnosis and more
accurate certification will effect an apparent rise in the number of
cancer deaths. An increase in numbers therefore, is not, per se,
necessarily an indication of increased morbidity.
Cancer was responsible for a total of 159 deaths giving a rate
of 1.76 per thousand, these figures showing a decline of 2 and 0.01
respectively from those of the previous year. The total indicates
that approximately one in every five deaths resulted from cancer
of one form or another. Since 1901 the yearly percentage of cancer
deaths has risen from 4.2 to 18.8, the figure for 1953.