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1
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Upper Street, N.l.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington.
I have the honour to submit the Annual Report (abridged) on the public health
of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington for the year ended 31st December, 1947.
This report marks the end of an epoch since it will be the last full year for which
the Borough Council have responsibility for all services, as set out in this Report,
prior to the coming into force of the National Health Service Act in July, 1948.
The epoch covers a period of thirty years, i.e., from the passing of the Maternity &
Child Welfare Act in 1918. Great strides in public health have been made since
then and some indications of the progress made can be seen from the tables, charts,
and contents of this Report. Each year, for many years past, new low records have
been established in infant mortality, and in 1947 there was the exceptionally low
rate of 32 per 1,000 live births. Even this rate can be reduced still further, but only
with increasing difficulty as the "hard core" of infant deaths is approached.
Diphtheria is not far from being eliminated, whilst tuberculosis, although not as
dramatically reduced, is much less widespread and the outlook for the tuberculous
patient is much more hopeful. The general standard of health, especially for children,
has risen immensely and in this progress Local Authorities, including Maternity &
Child Welfare Authorities and their staffs, have displayed initiative and played a
worthy part which has materially assisted in bringing about the present favourable
situation which, for Local Health Authorities, now constitutes the basis of their
further endeavours.
The birth rate and the total number of births in 1947 have exceeded even the
recent record figures of the previous year and are the highest in the Borough since
the early 1920s. It is also satisfactory to record that the death rate was slightly
lower than in 1946.
Infectious diseases generally were less prevalent than in 1946, although there
was some increase in the cases of whooping cough, but the one exceptional feature
of 1947 was the occurrence of the highest recorded number in any one ypar of cases
of Poliomyelitis and Polioencephalitis (commonly known as Infantile Paralysis).
This is dealt with in some detail in the appropriate section of this report, in which
it is also noted that Islington, fortunately, was less badly hit by this disease than
some other areas.
The main problem in environmental hygiene continues to be proper housing
and the remedying of vast numbers of sanitary defects in a Borough where three
quarters of the housing may be considered out of date by modern standards. With
much of this type of property the remedying of nuisances is very frequently followed
within a short space of time by the occurrence of other nuisances which necessitate
repeated and almost continual work for the remedying of defects. For the next 10,
15 or 20 years much labour and material must perforce go into old premises to render
them wind and weatherproof, since the rate of new housing does not permit of any
other measures. It may become an increasingly important question as to the
extent to which owners can economically retain old properties in a habitable
condition,