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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER
OF HEALTH FOR 1968
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the London Borough of Wandsworth.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the pleasure of presenting to you the fourth Annual
Report on the health of the London Borough of Wandsworth
covering the year ended 31st December 1968.
The general health of the Borough again remained good and
there is little upon which I need comment.
The civilian population of the Borough, as estimated by the
Registrar-General, was 321,720, a decrease of 8,750 over the
previous year. The total number of births was 5,635 which, compared
with 6,013 for 1967, gives an adjusted birth rate of 16.80
per 1,000 of the population compared with 18.06 for 1967. The
number of deaths at all ages was 4,571 as against 4,204 so that the
adjusted death rate was 11.64 per 1,000 of the population, showing
an increase over 1967. The total number of deaths of infants
under one year was 110, 20 less than in 1967, giving an infant
mortality rate of 19.50 per thousand live births, a reduction of 2.1
per thousand. The perinatal mortality rate, which is based on the
sum of the number of still births and the number of deaths at ages
under one week per 1,000 total live and still births was 24.19, a
decrease over the figure for 1967. In 1968, six women died from
causes associated with childbirth, giving a maternal mortality rate
of 1.52 per 1,000 live and still births.
In the table on pages 14-15 is given a breakdown of the causes
of death in Wandsworth in 1968. This table differs in some respects
from that published in previous years because during the year an
amendment was made to the International Classification of Diseases
(the Eighth Revision). This is an internationally recognized list of
causes of death which facilitates the statistical study of disease
phenomena. Accordingly, instead of 36 causes of death which have
previously appeared, 65 causes of death are now shown in the
new table. Exact comparisons with previous years are, therefore,
a little more difficult but it can be said that there were no outstanding
differences in 1968 compared with the previous year.
Three diseases, chronic bronchitis, cancer of the lung and coronary