View report page

TO HIS WORSHIP THE MAYOR, THE ALDERMEN, AND COUNCILLORS OF THE
BOROUGH OF PADDINGTON.
Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my (tenth) Annual Report on the Health of the Borough
and the work of the Public Health Department during the past year. As the Public Health
Committee will submit a report of their proceedings during the year, I have omitted certain
matters which I should otherwise have dealt with.
Once more I have to report the lowest death-rate on record—the nett mortality falling
from 14'58 per 1,000 persons in 1(102 to 13*14 last year—the difference 1*44 per 1,000 representing
a saving of 210 lives, no inconsiderable gain when the persistent decline in the birthrate
is borne in mind. The very low rate of mortality recorded last year was in part due to
the peculiar climatic conditions of the year, which were favourable to a very low infantile
mortality, nevertheless the reduction in the death-rate which has been going on almost continuously
for some years past must be ascribed to the efforts of the late Vestry and the
Council to improve the sanitary condition of the Borough. There was a satisfactory diminution
in the prevalence of the notified infectious diseases, especially of enteric and puerperal
fevers, that of scarlet fever being the only exception. The Department has been able, for the
first time, to make really systematic efforts to check the spread of the other infectious diseases.
Statistical proof of the utility of such efforts cannot be expected for some few years.
In one direction a serious disappointment has been experienced. Attention has been
called in previous reports to the continued high mortality among infants. In July of last year
the Public Health Committee made inquiries as to the results of municipal depots for the
supply of milk suitably prepared for infants, and it was hoped that it would be possible to
establish such a depot in the Borough. The scheme had, however, to be abandoned, owing
to the decision of the Local Government Board (communicated to another Authority) that
there was no legal authority for any expenditure from the rates on such a depot. The attempt
to deal with infantile mortality by such means cannot be justified except as a temporary
measure to tide over the period required for the training of future mothers in domestic hygiene
and management. I venture to hope that the County Council, as the Education Authority,
will not be content with the provision of " special centres " and evening lectures for teaching
these subjects, but will include them in the ordinary curriculum of every girls' school under
the Council's administration.
As customary, I desire to call your attention to certain matters which appear to me to
require special consideration. I would first refer to the need of more frequent removal of house
refuse, especially from houses (including blocks of flats) occupied by more than one family.
In many such houses the amount of refuse produced in the course of a week is considerable,
more than the average dustbin can hold, and consequently the refuse gets stored in cellars, or
litters the area. Any accumulation of decomposable refuse in the immediate neighbourhood
of the dwelling is prejudicial to health, owing to the pollution of the air (a factor which
receives too little attention), and to the conveyance of noxious particles from the refuse to
foodstuffs (or to wounds) by the flies bred in the refuse. The ideal, a daily removal of all
refuse, is, perhaps, too much to expect at present, but it does not appear to be unreasonable
to ask for a bi-weekly removal in the hot weather at least, if not all through the year.