View report page

REPORT
of the Medical Officer of Health
for the year 1962
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the pleasure of presenting to you the Annual Report on the
health and sanitary conditions of the Borough for the year 1962,
which follows the general form of previous reports, being mainly
statistical with comments on some points of interest.
As mentioned in last year's Report, the preliminary figures from
the 1961 Census, published by the Registrar-General, showed that
the population of Wandsworth was nearly 8,000 more than the estimate
for the previous year. Since then, more detailed figures have
become available and it is, therefore, possible to include in the
body of this Report, the Ward populations as at mid-1961. The
Registrar-General's estimate for the overall population of the
borough as at mid-1962 is 347,810, a slight increase since the Census,
and this figure has been used in calculating all the rates shown in
this Report. I have also extracted from the 1961 and 1951 Census
certain data which throws some light on the variations in the population
age groups. Of particular interest is the 28% increase in the
number of elderly people over 80 years of age.
The crude birth rate was 18.1 per thousand persons living, an
increase over the previous year. After taking into account the area
comparability factor, the adjusted rate works out at 17.4 as against
16.2 for 1961, so that the upward trend continues. The rate for
England and Wales as a whole was 18.0 and for London 19.6. The
crude death rate for the year was 14.4 compared with 14.0 for 1961
and the adjusted rate 11.2 as against 10.5. The corresponding figures
for England and Wales and London were 11.9 and 12.0 respectively.
The number of deaths of children under one year of age was
practically the same as the previous year, 122 against 121, giving an
infantile mortality rate of 19.3 per thousand live births, as compared
with 20.5 for 1961. I am glad to be able to report that the increase in
the maternal mortality rate noted last year was not sustained, there