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1
REPORT
of the Medical Officer of Health
for the Year 1946.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.
Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present my Annual Report on the Health of the
Borough for the year 1946, together with the Report of the Public
Analyst.
The population of the Borough at 314,030 shows an increase of
50,000 over the previous year. The birth rate, 19.95, is the highest
for 27 years, and the infant mortality rate of 32 per 1,000 births
is the lowest recorded since the formation of the Council in 1900.
The death rate has fallen from 12.69 in 1945 to 11.89. The
number of deaths from cancer, however, is still rising and has
increased from 537 in 1945 to 682.
The number of deaths from tuberculosis has risen slightly from
179 in 1945 to 199, but the death rate from this disease is .63, as
compared with .67 for 1945. The lower rate is due to the fact that
the estimated population on which the rate is calculated is higher.
There has been a material increase in the work of the Sanitary
Inspectors, due mainly to the much larger number of complaints
received from the public, but the difficulties in obtaining compliance
with sanitary notices have increased during the year owing to
shortages of materials, and this has had the effect of making the
repair of insanitary houses a slow process.
Attendances at the Infant Welfare Clinics increased very
considerably during the year, when 67,870 attendances were made,
as compared with 52,839 the previous year.
There has been no special incidence of disease, and the number
of notified cases of infectious disease has fallen from 5,474 to
4,226. This decrease was due mainly to fewer cases of measles,
scabies and dysentery.
I am, Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
F. G. CALEY,
Medical Officer of Health.