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BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
WALWORTH ROAD, S.E. 17.
Telephone: RODNEY 5464
To The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Southvark.
YOUR WORSHIP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I have the honour to present the Annual Report of the Medical
Officer of Health for the year 1958.
Vital Statistics
Whereas the Registrar General's estimate of the population of the
Metropolitan Borough at mid-year 1957 was, at 91,140, the lowest estimate
since 1946, the estimated population at mid-year 1958 was still lower.
The figure of 89,920 represents a further decrease of 1,220 persons
from last year and a decrease of 7,271 from the 1951 census figure of
97,191. The adjusted birth rate of 15.8 per thousand of the population
was slightly lower than that for England and Wales which was 16.4. He
still-birth rate of 20.1 per thousand total births was lower than that
of last year when the rate was 24.7 and lower than the rate for England
and Wales which was 21.6. The adjusted death rate of 10.2 per thousand
of the population is also lower than the same rate for Southwark in 1951
which was 10.8 and lower than 11.7 for England and Wales. The infant
death rate per thousand live births was, at 26.7, rather higher than
last year when it was 22.3, and than the rate for the country as a whole.
Of the 43 infant deaths, 30 occurred during the first four weeks of
life. One death occurred during the year from causes attributable to
childbirth.
Diseases of the heart and circulatory system were the principal i
causes of death accounting for almost fifty per cent of the total.
Malignant disease and diseases of the respiratory system followed next,
each being responsible for almost the same number of deaths. In regard
to the former condition, whereas the number of deaths due to cancer of
the lung and bronchus has risen since 1950, the deaths from cancer of
other organs has tended to decrease. The result of this is that the
death rate from cancer per 1,000 of the population has remained stationary
during recent years at approximately 2.2. As Lord Cohen stated
recently, "Cancer of the lung is increasing rapidly. It is now the
commonest form of fatal cancer, being responsible in Great Britain for
20,000 deaths a year, predominantly in men in the prime of life. Each
year the incidence increases by one thousand. There is the strongest
statistical evidence to show that the more cigarettes a man smokes the