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HAM 37
3
Town Hall,
Hammersmith, W.6.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,—I submit to you
the annual report on the health of the Borough for the
year 1945.
This report is still controlled by instructions from the
Ministry of Health and is in a very abridged form.
As is known to you, Dr. W. H. Brodie, the Medical Officer
of Health, returned to his permanent work at Penang in
the autumn and discontinued his duties in Hammersmith
on the last day of September. It is not for me to enumerate
his fine achievements whilst in the Borough, as these are
probably better known to yourselves. Before Dr. Brodie
left England, however, he had, so far as possible, geared
the health services to a peace-time regime.
During the year the health of the Borough was remarkably
good. The infant mortality rate was the lowest
on record, except for the war-time years of 1939 and 1941,
when the rate was calculated on a special birth figure supplied
by the Registrar General. It is pleasing to be able
to record also that only one maternal death took place.
For the first time for over four years part of the year now
reviewed deals with peace-time conditions.
The total number of deaths in the Borough was 110 less
than in the previous year: this decrease is due to the war
ending in May. The figures for air-raid deaths during 1944
were 188, as against only 29 in 1945. There was an increase
in the number of infectious disease notifications of
over 1,000 cases. This is explained by an epidemic of
measles. There was also an increase in the number of
cases of dysentery notified. In the majority of these cases