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25
years. Actual deaths from Tuberculosis are less than one sixth
and the rate is one tenth of the corresponding figures for 1945 as
the following table will indicate :—
Year No. of Deaths Rate
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
1953 18 0.19
1954 150.16
10-year Average 45 0.54
1955 8 0.08
Tuberculosis of the Respiratory System was responsible for
7 of the deaths in this category, only one death being attributed
to the remaining forms of tuberculosis.
At 0.07, the Pulmonary Tuberculosis rate was 0.09 less than
that returned for the previous year.
Locally the deaths were : 1 in East Greenwich ; 2 in West
Greenwich ; and 4 in Charlton and Kidbrooke.
Last year there were no deaths from other forms of Tuberculosis
compared with one for the current year.
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 169 deaths giving a rate
of 1.89 per thousand, these figures showing increases of 3 and 0.03
respectively over 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 20.4, the figure for 1955.