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3
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Metropolitan Borough o)
Lewisham
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I submit my report for the health department for the year 1959.
Vital statistics
The Registrar General's estimate of the population in midyear 1959
at 22)1,000 was exactly the same as his estimate for the previous year.
This latter figure was only 100 less than in the year before and so it
seems that the downward trend in population which had occurred continuously
since 1950 (when the population reached 228,300) may now
have ceased. The crude birth rate for the year at 15.7 shows an increase
from the 14.8 of the previous year. The adjusted birth rate, however,
(allowing for age and sex distribution of population) brings it down
to 14.9. The crude death rate at 111.8 compares with 11 in the previous
year, the adjusted death rate is the same and therefore there is a real
increase over the past year. The infant mortality rate at 18 indicates a
return to the better figures we had in previous years, that is excepting
1958 when it was 24. The infant mortality rate can be divided into
three parts, the early neonatal rate (under one week of age), the rest of
the neonatal rate (up to one month of age) and the rest of the first year
rate (that is from one month to twelve months). Theses rates were rerepectively
10.4, 2.8 and 4.7. The stillbirth rate came down one from
18 to 17. The various comparative figures of general statistics since the
beginning of the century are shown in table 12.
Infectious disease other than tuberculosis
The total number of notifications received (including 143 for tuberculosis)
was 3767, which is double the number of the previous year
and is almost the sami' as 1957. The increase was almost entirely due
to measles—from 835 to 2613. Food poisoning cases increased from
27 to 49 but the 27 of the previous year was an abnormally low figure;
details are in section F of the report. Pneumonia increased from 61
to 108 cases due to a moderate influenza wave at the beginning of the
year. Both scarlet fever and whooping cough showed some increase.
Poliomyelitis at 6 cases was again low in comparison with earlier years.
It is hoped and thought that vaccination has been a considerable factor
here. It is also hoped that vaccination will become increasingly popular,
but there is unfortunately not a great deal of support for this hope as
so far vaccination acceptances have been disappointingly low bearing
in mind the issues at stake.
Tuberculosis
The number of new notifications showed a major drop. Last year
I reported that there had not in fact been much alteration in the annual
number of new cases found in the past five years, these varying between
12 and 2711. It is therefore of some significance that the 1959 figures