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14
In November the London County Council held a Home
Safety Campaign and the Borough Council were asked to cooperate
in giving publicity to the campaign and in displaying posters
and handbills.
Unguarded open fires can be a great danger and I would
like to draw attention to the fact that in certain cases fireguards
can be loaned free of charge to households where there
are young children or elderly or handicapped persons.
During their routine housing, factory and shop
inspections, the public health inspectors also take special
note of conditions possibly predisposing to accidents, in
particular those relating to fire prevention.
POPULATION
As in 1957 there were more births than deaths in the
Borough, the natural increase in 1958 being 419. At the same time
the Registrar General's estimate of the population at 96,480 is
650 less than the estimate for the previous year indicating that
some 1,070 residents have moved away from Hampstead.
BIRTHS
The number of births was 1,494, almost exactly the same
as in the previous year. The birth rate per 1,000 of the population
is 15.5. The Registrar General gives an area comparability factor
which takes into account the proportion of women of child bearing
age in the population as compared with the proportion throughout
the country and so allows of comparison with other areas. The factor
for the year is 0.75 which gives an adjusted birth rate of H.6.
Of the births there were 115 males for every 100 females,
an excess of males which is greater than usual, and of the total
births 165 were illegitimate as compared with 140 in 1957 •
DEATHS
There were 1,075 deaths of Hampstead residents during
the year, giving a death rate of 11.1. As the area comparability
factor for deaths is l.0 the adjusted rate is the same as the crude
death rate of 11.l. This is an increase over the adjusted rate of
10.7 for 1957 and is in fact the highest rate since 1953 when the
adjusted rate was the same as for 1958.
Deaths from certain causes or groups of causes are given
below with the figures for 1957 by way of comparison.