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Health Department,
Town Hall,
Hornsey, N8
To His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Hornsey
Mr Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present to you my Annual Report on the health
of the Borough for the year 1954
The population as estimated by the Registrar-General at mid-1954
was 98,210, a decrease of 300 on the figure supplied for mid-1953 The
birth-rate was 138 and the infant mortality rate 192 (neo-natal 155)
per 1,000 live births The total number of civilian deaths was 1,009
giving a general death rate of 103 per 1,000 estimated population
Over one-third of the total deaths were classified as caused by "diseases
of the heart and circulation"; and of that number 458% were due to
coronary disease Of all the causes of death 218% were due to cancer:
the death rate from this disease having increased from 062 to 22 during
the past fifty years Of special concern throughout the country is the
increase in the number of deaths from cancer of the lung, which it may
be anticipated will shortly eclipse tuberculosis as the most serious
respiratory disease Whereas preventive medicine has done much to
reduce the incidence in tuberculosis—better housing conditions, mass
radiography of the chest and voluntary B C G vaccination—less
scope for preventive action, at present, exists in the case of cancer In the
latter the causation is not yet clearly established and in the case of lung
cancer the effects of cigarette smoking, "smog" or pollution of the
atmosphere by diesel fumes are matters requiring further investigation
Thus in the state of present knowledge the most promising preventive
measure would seem to be encouragement of periodic health overhauls
in the adult population, and increasingly effective co-operation between
hospital, general practitioner and local authority services to ensure the
earliest possible detection and treatment of the disease This in itself
supports a need for early experimentation in health centre development;
envisaged in Section 21 of the National Health Service Act
As outlined in detail in my Annual Report for 1953, much is being
done in Hornsey, both by voluntary and public agencies, for the care
of the aged: concentration, of necessity, being upon the socially or
physically handicapped In the task of health promotion and prevention
of disease, attention too must be given to the needs of the able aged, in
retirement or about to retire, whose main faculties are little or not
impaired For many of such there is a very real need for a Clinic
Welfare Service where an ageing person may seek advice while still in
good health, on questions, for example, of diet, prevention of personal
accidents, activities and leisure necessary to the maintenance of physical
and mental health in old age
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