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Town Hall,
Hammersmith, W.6.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,—I have pleasure in
presenting my annual report for the year 1950.
The report is still in an abbreviated form, on instructions
from the Ministry of Health, and has been prepared on similar
lines as last year.
During the year Dr. Mary Irene Adams was appointed
Medical Officer of Health for the Borough of Fulham and
relinquished her appointment as Deputy Medical Officer of
Health of this Borough on the 31st December.
The liaison between the Divisional staff of the London
County Council and ourselves has continued on a very happy
and cordial footing.
There was no serious outbreak of any infectious disease
during the year under review and, generally speaking, it can
be said that the health of the Borough has remained satisfactory.
In Hammersmith, perhaps the most interesting feature of
the year and one which calls for some comment is the infant
mortality rate. The present rate of 17 per 1,000 births is a
record low figure and compares with 28 for the previous year.
The infant mortality rate for the whole of London was 26
and for the whole of England and Wales, 29.
On reference to the table in the Statistical Supplement it
will be observed that the average infant death rate for the
years 1906/1913 was 117.
It can also be recorded that the present death rate of 10.8
per 1,000 of the population constitutes a new record low
figure for the Borough.
It is interesting to consider the effect of the continued fall
in the loss of life amongst young and old since that time. The
increase in the population of England, together with the
decrease in infant deaths and also in deaths at all ages, means
that our interest in the future is likely to be at least as much
in the welfare of the aged as in that of the newly born. The
Maternity and Child Welfare Services have been transferred
to the London County Council. No local authority is permitted