View report page

6
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Borough of Hornsey.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report for the year
ending December 31st, 1940.
The birth rate, 1282, is the highest since 1930.
The deaths of infants under one year of age numbered 40,
which, in 933 births, gives an infant mortality rate of 49 per
1,000 live births, compared with 27 in the previous year. This
infant mortality rate is the highest since 1931 and calls for
explanation. Analysis of the infant deaths for the year shows
that 25 of the total of 46—that is more than half—occurred in
the first month of life. Of the remaining 21 infant deaths no
fewer than 15 were caused by broncho-pneumonia, three from
gastro enteritis and the remaining three from various other causes.
The average number of infant deaths per annum from
broncho-pneumonia in the ten years 1930-1939 inclusive was six.
In 1929 broncho-pneumonia caused 18 infant deaths in Hornsey.
The explanation of this excessive infant mortality from bronchopneumonia
in 1929 and 1940 was undoubtedly the severity of
these winters.
The intense cold of the first three months of the year also
accounted for the deaths of an unusual number of the oldest
residents. The higher mortality amongst very old and very
young, together with the deaths caused by enemy action,
accounts for the sharp rise in the general death rate from 1116
in 1939 to 1516 in 1940.
In spite of these adverse mortality figures, there is no
evidence in the statistics of deterioration in the general health of
the population. There has been no exceptional prevalence of
or mortality from the common infectious diseases. Measles and
whooping-cough were added to the list of notifiable diseases at
the end of 1939, and during 1940 there were notified 77 cases
of the former and 30 of the latter without a death. All forms of
tuberculosis caused 49 deaths during the year—the lowest figure
ever recorded.