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9
Public Health Department,
Lambeth Town Hall,
Brixton Hill, S. W. 2.
Tel : BRIxton 7755
July, 1959
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth.
Mr. Mayor Ladies and Gentlemen.
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year
1958 on the health of the Borough of Lambeth.
The vital statistics are satisfactory and are commented upon
in detail in the body of the report. The Registrar General's
mid year estimate of the population showed a decrease of 700
after an increase of 400 in the previous year. The birth rate
shows an increase on the previous year, but the general and
infantile death rates are higher than in 1957.
The control of the infectious diseases such as typhoid fever,
tuberculosis and diphtheria by application of preventive methods
and the advent of antibiotics and other chemo-therapeutic agents
has brought about a marked reduction in deaths from these
diseases, although some organisms notably the staphylococcus are
developing resistance to these new drugs.
The pattern of mortality is changing and more people are
dying from heart disease, which is perhaps to be expected in an
ageing population, cancer and road accidents. Whilst the cause
of cancer generally is not yet clear, statistical evidence
undoubtedly points to excessive cigarette smoking as a cause of
cancer of the lung.
Whereas in the past the control of diseases conveyed by
water, milk and unsound food was achieved at source without the
co-operation of the individual, the control of the diseases and
causes of mortality which are now becoming prominent depend on