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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 1946.
The report is still controlled by economy measures and
it is not possible to embark on an elaborate account of
your health services.
It would have been appropriate as we pass from the end
of the old epoch to the dawning of the new health age to
reflect fully on the past. It is impossible to do this because
of the restrictions mentioned above. Exactly a hundred
years ago the first medical man was designated a Medical
Officer of Health. In those days, hygiene of water supplies
and of sewage disposal were the prime responsibility of the
M.O.H. Now these are relegated to the engineer and the
laboratory technician. Geriatrics and social medicine are
in the forefront of any health plan for the future. Our
immediate, needs—a legacy from the world clash of 19391945—are
so acute that they are known to all. In spite
of their urgent necessity we still remain very free from
alarming increase in disease; only the future can tell how
much cardio vascular wear and tear has been brought about
by the turmoil of living in war-affected areas during the
war-time and post-war years.
It is of great interest to notice how the diminution of
smoke abatement for eight years has affected the death rate
from chronic bronchitis and its complications in towns subject
to atmospheric pollution. In Hammersmith, 7.3 per
cent. of all deaths of borough residents in 1946 are associated
with this environmental hazard. Smoke abatement
has not been pressed since secret war-time instructions
encouraged smoke production as an air-raid screen. The
present rebuilding of London would seem a unique