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cency save in regard to illegitimacy. The slightly lower
illegitimate infant mortality rate, 21,0 (23.0) - surprisingly
enough rather less than the corresponding rate for legitimate
infants, 23.0 (16.0) - albeit welcome, cannot offset the concern
which must be felt in any community where the proportion of
illegitimate births approaches one in six as it does in Wandsworth
and indeed in Inner London as a whole. Even in the latter third
of the twentieth century, held to be so enlightened compared with
previous eras, all the evidence indicates that the handicap of
illegitimacy is very real. The more the publicity given to the
adverse effects which such a serious initial disadvantage may
confer on the future of these wholly innocent victims of human
irresponsibility, the greater the prospect in the long run of a
more thoughtful approach being adopted by the public both as
individuals and as citizens.
Once again the local mortality statistics for 1972 focus attention
on the human tragedy which the self-inflicted wounds of
physical indulgence and lack of insight in personal relationships
with fellow human beings represent. Diseases of the circulatory
system continue to be responsible for nearly one in two deaths,
1,907 out of the grand total of 4,063, and all forms of malignancy
for approximately one death in every five. The toll from cancer
of the lung rose noticeably - 291 deaths compared with 240 in
the previous year - and the 842 deaths from malignant disease
in 1972 also included 77 from cancer of the breast (three times
as many fatalities as from cancer of the womb). Tobacco,
alcohol, excess weight, lack of exercise and failure to seek
medical advice early enough all have much to answer for in this
context; so too do the human carelessness, recklessness and
ignorance reflected in the 71 accidental deaths recorded, and
the similar number of fatalities from suicide and mental disorders
constitutes a sharp reminder of the scale of the problem represented
by psychiatric illness today. Leaving aside the influenzal
episodes already mentioned (which caused 18 deaths directly and
undoubtedly contributed in addition to the rise in mortality from
pneumonia and bronchitis), all other infectious diseases including
tuberculosis accounted for less than 1% of the sum total of
deaths in the Borough during the year.
When so many major easily recognizable preventable factors
exerj such a dominating influence on the existing pattern of
ill-health in this country it is difficult yet all-important to avoid
the self-defeating attitude of the "kill-joy". A patent enthusiasm
for and belief in the benefits to be derived from physical fitness,
mental agility and emotional stability, stemming from a