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 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Metropolitan borough. | Factor for correction for age and sex distribution. | Crude death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Corrected death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Comparative mortality figure (London 1,000). | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907-11 | 1912. | 1907-11. | 1912. | 1907-11. | 1912. | ||
| Stepney | 1.2037 | 0.80 | 0.86 | 0.97 | 1.04 | 978 | 945 |
| Poplar | 1.0747 | 0.89 | 1.08 | 0.95 | 1.16 | 962 | 1,055 |
| Southwark | 1.0335 | 0.99 | 1.16 | 1.03 | 1.20 | 1,036 | 1,091 |
| Bermondsey | 1.0744 | 1.02 | 1.28 | 1.10 | 1.38 | 1,107 | 1,255 |
| Lambeth | 0.9193 | 1.15 | 1.31 | 1.06 | 1.21 | 1,067 | 1,100 |
| Battersea | 1.0112 | 0.96 | 111 | 0.97 | 1.13 | 982 | 1,027 |
| Wandsworth | 0.9552 | 0.98 | 1.08 | 0.93 | 1.03 | 941 | 936 |
| Camberwell | 0.9688 | 0.97 | 1.22 | 0.94 | 1.19 | 954 | 1,082 |
| Deptford | 0.9963 | 0.95 | 1.09 | 0.95 | 1.09 | 958 | 991 |
| Greenwich | 0.9895 | 0.90 | 0.98 | 0.89 | 0.97 | 901 | 882 |
| Lewisham | 0.9223 | 1.02 | 1.13 | 0.94 | 1.04 | 947 | 945 |
| Woolwich | 1.0321 | 0.93 | 1.01 | 0.96 | 1.05 | 968 | 955 |
It will be seen from the foregoing table (comparing the corrected death-rates) that in the quinquennium
1907-11 among the several sanitary districts, St. Marylebone (1.15) had the highest cancer
death-rate, and Hampstead (0.87) the lowest, in the year 1912 Bermondsey (1.38) had the highest, the
lowest obtaining in Shoreditch (0.93).
Cancer
death-rates
—London
boroughs,
1906-1912.
The following table shows the corrected death-rate from cancer in each of the sanitary districts of London, annually for the last twelve years:-
| Metropolitan borough. | Corrected Cancer death-rates. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | 1909. | 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | |
| Paddington | 0.99 | 1.07 | 1.12 | 0.92 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.05 |
| Kensington | 0.82 | 1.00 | 0.89 | 1.01 | 0.83 | 0.98 | 1.10 |
| Hammersmith | 1.13 | 1.08 | 0.96 | 0.89 | 1.01 | 1.00 | 1.06 |
| Fulham | 1.02 | 1.14 | 0.84 | 1.02 | 1.06 | 1.21 | 1.07 |
| Chelsea | 0.99 | 0.82 | 0.86 | 1.01 | 1.14 | 111 | 1.20 |
| Westminster, City of | 0.86 | 0.83 | 1.02 | 1.03 | 0.96 | 1.12 | 1.22 |
| St. Marylebone | 0.92 | 1.05 | 1.16 | 1.16 | 1.15 | 1.21 | 1.01 |
| Hampstead | 1.01 | 0.74 | 0.92 | 0.87 | 0.89 | 0.92 | 1.09 |
| St. Pancras | 1.03 | 0.88 | 1.22 | 1.03 | 1.18 | 1.18 | 1.13 |
| Islington | 1.04 | 0.97 | 1.02 | 0.99 | 1.04 | 0.94 | 1.09 |
| Stoke Newington | 0.88 | 1.04 | 1.10 | 1.00 | 0.92 | 1.04 | 0.97 |
| Hackney | 0.81 | 0.88 | 0.97 | 0.94 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.96 |
| Holborn | 0.99 | 0.71 | 0.82 | 1.08 | 0.97 | 0.98 | 1.12 |
| Finsbury | 0.88 | 0.92 | 0.94 | 1.00 | 0.84 | 0.93 | 0.97 |
| London, City of | 0.98 | 0.94 | 0.98 | 1.01 | 0.97 | 0.93 | 1.35 |
| Shoreditch | 0.83 | 1.08 | 0.92 | 0.96 | 0.96 | 0.93 | 0.93 |
| Bethnal Green | 1.15 | 1.03 | 1.05 | 1.10 | 1.16 | 1.12 | 1.15 |
| Stepney | 1.18 | 0.93 | 0.97 | 0.88 | 1.00 | 1.06 | 1.04 |
| Poplar | 0.84 | 0.85 | 0.96 | 0.98 | 0.97 | 1.00 | 1.16 |
| Southwark | 0.96 | 1.00 | 0.97 | 0.99 | 1.03 | 1.14 | 1.20 |
| Bermondsey | 1.04 | 1.08 | 0.93 | 1.21 | 1.24 | 1.02 | 1.38 |
| Lambeth | 0.97 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.17 | 0.99 | 1.04 | 1.21 |
| Battersea | 1.03 | 0.96 | 0.92 | 1.10 | 0.87 | 0.01 | 1.13 |
| Wandsworth | 0.94 | 0.94 | 0.91 | 0.88 | 0.94 | 0.99 | 1.03 |
| Camberwell | 0.99 | 0.89 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.87 | 1.00 | 1.19 |
| Deptford | 1.00 | 0.72 | 0.88 | 0.95 | 1.02 | 1.16 | 1.09 |
| Greenwich | 0.81 | 0.85 | 0.98 | 0.89 | 0.90 | 0.84 | 0.97 |
| Lewisham | 0.89 | 0.91 | 0.90 | 0.92 | 0.93 | 1.03 | 1.04 |
| Woolwich | 1.02 | 0.96 | 0.81 | 1.02 | 0.89 | 1.10 | 1.05 |
| London | 0.97 | 0.95 | 0.98 | 1.00 | 0.99 | 1.03 | 1.10 |
In the report for the year 1909 a table was included showing the cancer death-rates in the
period 1901-9 in areas presenting different degrees of overcrowding, the object being to compare the
death-rates of populations differently circumstanced in respect of " social condition." These figures
and those for the years 1910 and 1911, appear to indicate that there is no relation between cancer
mortality and social condition, whether measured by the degree of overcrowding or by the percentage
of children scheduled for compulsory education, and in this respect the behaviour of cancer differs
altogether from that of phthisis (see page 48).