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 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
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Rate of 0.14 for the previous year. This year's Rate is 0.05 lower
than that for 1956 and still compares favourably with the average
T.B. Death Rate during the previous 10 vears, viz : 0.38.
Again current figures throw into relief the remarkable improvement in the Tuberculosis situation in the Borough during recent years. Actual deaths from Tuberculosis have been reduced to approximately one eighth and the rate to one ninth of the corresponding figures for 1947 as the following table will indicate :—
| Year | No. of Deaths | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 15 | 0.16 |
| 1955 | 8 | 0.08 |
| 1956 | 13 | 0.14 |
| 1957 | 10-year Average 34 | 0.38 |
| 8 | 0.09 |
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 0.08, the Pulmonary Tuberculosis rate was 0.05 lower than
that returned for the previous 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 187 deaths giving a rate of
2.11 per thousand, figures identical with those of the previous year.
Again 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 21.9 the figure for
1957.