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1
REPORT
of the Medical Officer of Health
for the Year 1947.
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 1947, together with the Report of the Public
Analyst.
The population of the Borough at 330,820 shows an increase of
16,790 over the previous year. The birth rate, 20.17, is the highest
for 28 years, and the infant mortality rate of 31 per 1,000 births
is the lowest recorded since the formation of the Council in 1900.
The death rate has risen from 11.89 in 1946 to 12.35. The
number of deaths from cancer is still rising and has increased from
682 in 1946 to 715.
The number of deaths from tuberculosis has risen slightly from
199 in 1946 to 217, and the death rate from this disease is .65, as
compared with .63 for 1946.
There has been a material increase in the work of the Sanitary
Inspectors, due mainly to the larger number of complaints received
from the public, but there are still difficulties in obtaining compliance
with sanitary notices owing to shortages of materials, and this has
had the effect of making the repair of insanitary houses a slow
process.
The attendances at the Infant Welfare Clinics have increased
considerably during the year, when 75,122 attendances were made,
as compared with 67,870 the previous year.
The number of notified cases of infectious disease has fallen
from 4,226 to 3,271. 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.