London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1907
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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22
It will be seen from the following table that in the decennium 1897-1906, London had a
lower death-rate from these diseases than any of the undermentioned English towns, except Bristol
Bradford and Newcastle-on-Tyne, and in 1907 had a lower death-rate than any, except Leeds, Bristol,
Bradford, Newcastle-on-Tyne and Leicester.
| Town. | 1897-1906. | 1907. | Town. | 1897-1906. | 1907. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham | 3.38 | 2.18 | |||
| Liverpool | 3.36 | 2.01 | Bradford | 1.91 | 0.89 |
| Manchester | 3.08 | 1.72 | Newcastle-on-Tyne | 1.97 | 1.37 |
| Birmingham | 2.85 | 1.78 | Hull | 2.96 | 1.77 |
| Leeds | 2.52 | 1.26 | Nottingham | 2.45 | 2.25 |
| Sheffield | 3.30 | 2.64 | Salford | 3.83 | 2.14 |
| Bristol | 1.87 | 0.79 | Leicester | 2.55 | 0.90 |
The following table shows that the London death-rate from six of these principal epidemic
diseases, viz.: smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough and enteric fever, was, both
in the decennium 1897-1906 and the year 1907, higher than the death-rates of all the under-mentioned
foreign towns, except St. Petersburg:—
| • Town. | 1897-1906. | 1907. | Town. | 1897-1906. | 1907. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Petersburg | 3.11 | 2.97 | |||
| Paris | 0.75 | 0.59 | Berlin | 0.95 | 0.74 |
| Brussels | 0.60 | 0.42 | Vienna | 0.92 | 0.70 |
| Amsterdam | 0.86 | 0.70 | Rome | 0.95 | 0.70 |
| Copenhagen | 0.78 | 0.62 | New York | . 1.24 | 1.3 |
| Stockholm | 0.87 | 0.43 |
The following table shows the deaths from the principal epidemic diseases and the death-rates
per 1,000 persons living in each of the sanitary areas of the County in 1907, and the death-rates for the
period 1902-6:—
| Sanitary area. | Deaths, 1907 (52 weeks). | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1902-6. | 1907. | ||
| Paddington | 170 | 1.46 | 1.13 |
| Kensington | 189 | 1.49 | 1.04 |
| Hammersmith | 142 | 1.97 | 1.16 |
| Fulham | 288 | 2.58 | 1.73 |
| Chelsea | 108 | 1.54 | 1.44 |
| Westminster, City of | 122 | 0.96 | 0.72 |
| St. Marylebone | 123 | 1.52 | 0.97 |
| Hampstead | 46 | 0.63 | 0.51 |
| St. Pancras | 275 | 1.91 | 1.17 |
| Islington | 434 | 1.61 | 1.23 |
| Stoke Newington | 54 | 1.21 | 1.02 |
| Hackney | 319 | 1.88 | 1.37 |
| Holborn | 70 | 1.65 | 1.28 |
| Finsbury | 176 | 2.77 | 1.83 |
| London, City of | 17 | 0.90 | 0.85 |
| Shoreditch | 348 | 3.16 | 3.01 |
| Bethnal Green | 256 | 2.51 | 1.96 |
| Stepney | 608 | 2.75 | 1.97 |
| Poplar | 361 | 2.94 | 2.11 |
| Southwark | 398 | 2.56 | 1.90 |
| Bermondsey | 219 | 2.75 | 1.71 |
| Lambeth | 402 | 1.77 | 1.28 |
| Battersea | 243 | 1.96 | 1.34 |
| Wandsworth | 326 | 1.61 | 1.16 |
| Camberwell | 396 | 1.74 | 1.43 |
| Deptford | 171 | 2.19 | 1.47 |
| Greenwich | 154 | 1.75 | 1.44 |
| Lewisham | 128 | 1.30 | 0.85 |
| Woolwich | 177 | 1.59 | 1.38 |
1 See footnote (1) page 8.