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METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF STOKE NEWINGTON
REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR THE YEAR 1957
Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Stoke Newington,N.16.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of
the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington.
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year 1957 as required by the
Ministry of Health.
The main item of new legislation which came into force during the year was the Rent
Act, 1957. From July to December, 101 applications for Certificates of Disrepair were received,
of which 2 were withdrawn. During the same period, 1 Certificate of Cancellation
was issued. There were many enquiries from both tenants and landlords at the Public Health
Department and many more were referred to the People's Advice Service.
The number of new Sanitary Complaints received was 1,242 as compared with 1,543 in
1956 showing a decrease of 301. The number of Intimation Notices served also dropped from
883 in 1956 to 366 in 1957. While many factors may be the cause of this decrease, it would
appear that two of these factors are the increased number of Council dwellings in the Borough
and the higher standard of the state of repair of privately owned dwellings. Many nuisances
were remedied by verbal representations of the Public Health Inspectors.
The Registrar-General's estimate of the civilian population in 1957, was 50,480 as
compared with 50,420 in 1956, while the number of births allocated to Stoke Newington in 1957
was 898 as compared with 850 in 1956, thus showing an increase in the birth rate from 16.66
to 17.78.
The number of deaths of children under one year of age was 25 as compared with 18 in
1956. The causes of death were Bronchitis 3, Prematurity 8, Pneumonia 2, Congenital Malformations
4, and other causes 8. It will be appreciated that any rise or fall in the deaths
of children under 1 year based on a low population figure such as in Stoke Newington, will
reflect considerably in the actual infant mortality rate. Hence, while the number of these
deaths increased by 8 over the previous year, the actual rate showed an increase from 23.07
to 27.83.
There were 4 deaths from Motor Vehicle Accidents during the year. One involved a boy
aged 5 who died after being struck by a Motor Vehicle.
Deaths due to other accidents totalled 8, and showed an increase of 2 as compared
with the previous year. 2 males and 6 females were involved. Four of these accidents occurred
in women over the age of 70 following accidents involving fracture of femur after
having fallen.
Suicides totalled 4 and involved 3 males and 1 female.
Deaths of Stoke Newington residents totalled 496 as compared with 533 in 1956, and
the death rate decreased from 10.57 to 9.82. The causes of death were Tuberculosis 6,
Cancer of all sites 103, Vascular lesions of Nervous System 57, Heart Diseases 146, Pneumonia
19, Bronchitis 40, Suicides 4, and Other Diseases 121.
The number of deaths from Pulmonary Tuberculosis increased by 3, while the number of
deaths from Cancer of the Lung increased by 5 as compared with the previous year. It is
still necessary to emphasise the association between cigarette smoking and cancer of the
lung. Parents would be well advised to make their children understand the dangers resulting
from cigarette smoking and to try and prevent them from starting, even if they, the parents
find it difficult to give up the habit completely themselves.
Notifications of Infectious Diseases totalled 1,039 as compared with 453 for 1956.
There were 2 cases of Poliomyelitis, one in the age group 0-1 and the other in the age group
5-10. Both these cases were removed to hospital. 14 cases of Food Poisoning were reported
and involved persons in various age groups. Particulars regarding these cases will be found
in the Annual Return of Food Poisoning, Notifications. The acute rise in the number of cases