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6
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
TOWN HALL, GREENWICH. S.E.10
To The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the privilege of presenting the Annual Report on the
health and environmental circumstances of Greenwich for 1960.
There was a slight decrease in the population, a decrease in
the births and a small increase in the number of deaths. On the
other hand the infantile mortality rate and the still birth rate
showed a reduction and all the vital statistics recorded in the
Report compare favourably with the County rate and the rates in
England and Wales.
The year was notable for the small number of infectious
diseases notified. The total notifications were the lowest in the
history of the Borough and the area was free from diphtheria and
the enteric fevers. Dysentery was also less troublesome and the
stringent control measures adopted by the school authorities and
in the homes of cases and carriers, together with the close cooperation
of the general practitioners on treatment, undoubtedly
contributed to this reduction. Notifications of both pulmonary and
non-pulmonary tuberculosis increased slightly but has little statistical
significance. There were only four deaths from pulmonary
tuberculosis, which is a remarkable tribute to the efficacy of the
new therapeutic methods and to the devoted work of the curative
and preventive aspects of the Tuberculosis service. Once again I
am glad to include an account from Doctors Forgacs and Wraith
of the work of the Chest Clinic at Maze Hill.
It is gratifying to notice that B.C.G. vaccination of susceptible
age groups in schools increased by 24 per cent over the 1959
figure. Although the number of diphtheria immunisations effected
was an advance over the previous year there were many fewer
vaccinations against smallpox. Protection against poliomyelitis
continues to be made readily available at the County Council
clinics for the under-40 age group and it is to be hoped that as
large a proportion as possible of the young adult group of the
population will avail themselves of this valuable protective measure.
It is of course of paramount importance that parents make
certain that all young children are given full immunisation courses.
Turning to non-infectious diseases one must again note the
continuing increase in deaths from malignancy, especially from