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68
1970, viz. 15, the current year saw a reversion to the more normal
pattern of 7.
Tuberculosis
Recent years have seen lung disease in the form of tuberculosis
effectively controlled by chemotherapy and the breeding of tuberculin
tested herds of cattle has been eminently successful in almost
eliminating the dissemination of other forms of tuberculosis.
As in 1970, total deaths in the Borough from all forms of tuberculosis
numbered 7, producing a rate of 0.03. Of the deaths
registered, 4 were males and 3 females, with 1 female case being
of non-pulmonary type.
The comparable rate for England and Wales was 0.03 and that
returned for Greater London was 0.04.
Two deaths, both female (one non-pulmonary), were over 75
years of age.
Violent Deaths
As a classification, the term "violent death" includes those
deaths arising from motor vehicle accidents, suicide, homicide and
"other forms" of accident.
During 1971 there were 102 deaths from violence in the Borough,
an increase of 20 over 1970, giving a rate of 0.47 per 1,000 population
compared with a rate of 0.49 for England and Wales and
0.43 for Greater London.
Motor Vehicle Accidents—Road accidents, which are now the
commonest cause of death in adolescents and young adults, were
responsible for 7,071 deaths in England and Wales during the year,
an increase of 5% over the previous year when the total was
6,727.
Thirty-five persons in the Borough died from motor vehicle
accidents during 1971, 6 more than those recorded for the
previous year. The calculated rate of 0.16 compares with 0.14 and
0.12, the rates for England and Wales and Greater London
respectively. Of the Borough total, 11 (31.4%) were under 25 years
of age and 10 (28.6%) were over 65 years.
Home Accidents—This year's total of 19 deaths from home
accidents is identical with that for 1970, giving a rate of 0.09. Of
these deaths, 6 resulted from falls to persons over 60 years and
whose average age was 70. Seven persons succumbed to carbon
monoxide poisoning including 4 children, 3 of 6 years and 1 of 4,
whose deaths arose from paraffin heater fires. A male of 78
years died from burns sustained when his clothes were ignited
by an overturned paraffin lamp and a female of the same age
died as a result of a faulty domestic boiler. Two children died