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To His Worship the Mayor, the Aldermen, and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Paddington.
Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report on the health of the (late) Parish of
Paddington during 1900, being the seventh Annual Report prepared by me on the subject. In
accordance with an arrangement made with my colleagues, the Medical Officers of Health of the
other Metropolitan Districts, the statistics included in this Report refer to the area of the Parish of
Paddington. The Registrar.General has also adopted this plan in his Annual Summary for 1900.
I have thought it better to defer all reference to the changes due to the formation of the Borough
until the next Annual Report.
Whilst this Report has been in the press the Preliminary Report of the Census, held in March
last, has been published. The enumerated population of the Parish (old area) at the Census has
not been included in the Report, but was approximately 127,315 persons.
On re.calculating the estimate of the population of the middle of 1900, it is found to be
126,590,* or about 4,000 below the estimate used in this Report. The numbers of males and
females living at the various ages are not yet known. To arrive at rates on the (provisionally)
revised estimate of the population at the middle of 1900, it will be necessary to multiply the figures
given in this Report by 1031. The factor can only be applied to rates at all ages, and as the
corrections have not been applied to all the years of the decennium, it is useless to pursue the
subject further, except to say that last year's "nett" death.rate of the Parish would be raised from
15 78 per 1,000 to l6.28, an increase of 0.50 per 1,000.
Taking the statistics as recorded, they may be deemed to be satisfactory, and to show a continued
improvement in the general health of the Parish. The reduction in the prevalence of sickness and
mortality from diphtheria is particularly gratifying. So much cannot be said of the infantile
mortality. The increase in the local rate last year is remarkable as being an exception to the
reductions recorded in nearly all the adjacent districts. Taken in conjunction with the decline in the
birth.rate which has prevailed for some years past, not only in Paddington, but throughout the
whole of England and Wales, any increase in the mortality of infants becomes a question of
national import. The prevailing high mortality is largely due to lack of education on the part of
parents. Until infant hygiene is recognized as a part of the school training of all girls, the only
practical method of obviating the evils arising from such ignorance is to employ women trained in
nursing and the rudiments of sanitary science to visit the homes of the poor and advise and
guide the unskilled parents. Secure cleanliness in the homes and persuade the parents to limit
infants' diets to the natural food, and a very considerable reduction in the infantile mortality will at
once ensue.
The Sanitary Committee of the late Vestry requested me some time back to inquire into the
reduction, if any, in the mortality from the tubercular diseases, and the increase, if any, in that
from. "cancer." It has taken many months' interrupted work to collect the necessary information,
and I have included in the Report (the last of the nineteenth century) some preliminary observations
on these points. With regard to the tubercular diseases, I think the evidence collated demonstrates
* This figure can only be regarded as approximate. Sufficient information has not been published to arrive at an
absolutely final estimate.