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 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
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29
The first quarter of the current year produced 32.3% of the
year's total deaths whilst there was little variation between the 2nd
and 4th quarters the figures being 22.6 and 24.2 respectively; as
expected at 20.9% the 3rd quarter yielded the least.
It will be observed from the following table that during 1963
the deaths occurring at 65 years and upwards accounted for 66.1%
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 2.6%.
| Age Group | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 1963 |
| Under 1 year of age | 362 | 306 | 175 | 97 | 29 | 30 | |
| Between 1 and 5 years | 187 | 158 | 80 | 39 | 7 | 2 | |
| Between 5 and 15 years | 64 | 67 | 58 | 22 | 10 | 4 | |
| Between 15 and 25 years | 66 | 60 | 67 | 65 | 12 | 8 | |
| Between 25 and 65 years | 454 | 474 | 466 | 382 | 311 | 252 | |
| 65 years and over | 335 | 356 | 387 | 529 | 633 | 631 | |
| Totals | 1,468 | 1,421 | 1,243 | 1,134 | 1,002 | 927 |
MATERNAL MORTALITY
There were no maternal deaths recorded during the current
year, a situation similar to that obtaining during the previous
year. One maternal death was registered in each of the years 1961
and 1960, the respective rates being 0.75 and 0.78. Both of these
deaths were due to "self-induced" abortions.
INFANTILE MORTALITY
Infant Mortality of any given locality is measured by relating
the number of deaths recorded during the year of children
under one year of age to the number of live births registered for
that particular area during the same period.
Bad housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, low standards of
education, illegitimacy, all tend to produce higher infant mortality
rates. It follows therefore that the infant mortality rate should