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i
BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK
Public Health Department,
Walworth Road, S.E.17.
The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
Metropolitan Borough of Southwark.
Your Worship, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit my Annual Report for the year 1956.
As will be seen from the various statistical tables in the body of
the report, the year was comparatively speaking a healthy one.
Apart from the Dysentery epidemic, which commenced at the end
of last year and slowly faded away by late Summer, there were no
major epidemics of infectious diseases.
It will be noted that the population figure as estimated by the
Registrar General has again fallen by as much as 1,500 persons to
92,300. This downward swing has been continuous since the Census
in 1951, but I believe it has about reached bottom and that there
will be a reversal to an upward swing in the next year or two when
the many cleared sites in the Borough are re-developed and new
flats and houses become occupied.
The Crude death rate of 12.9 remains more or less stationary,
but the adjusted death rate of 11.6 compares favourably with the
rate of the country as a whole, namely 11.7. Two-thirds of the 1,196
deaths, occurred in the 65 and over age groups, the principal causes
being diseases of the heart and blood vessels. On the other hand,
one quarter occurred in the middle age groups 45-64, the principal
causes again being diseases of the circulatory system, closely
followed by Cancer, the chief organs affected being the lungs.
Looking to the bright side of the statistics, we find that the Infant
Mortality rate of 16 per 1,000 live births creates a new record for the
Borough and compares well with the 23.8 rate for the country as a
whole. Furthermore, unlike any previous year, not a single illegitimate
baby died.
It is highly satisfactory to record that not a single mother lost
her life as a result of childbirth.
Towards the end of the year, I followed up the 41 paralytic Polio
cases which occurred in 1955: I was able to trace 37 of them, four
having left the district. Of the 37, 14 had completely recovered and
five had some slight muscular weakness remaining but were well and
attending school. The remaining 18 had some paralysis left either
in arms or legs. Many of them were at Queen Mary's Hospital,
Carshalton, whilst a few were attending local hospitals wearing irons
and receiving physiotherapy.