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There were 480 suicides in 1956 compared with 461 in 1955 and although the suicide
rate shows a slight increase, it has remained at about the same level for the past four
years.
Deaths from road accidents in 1956 were 325, six more than in 1955, and the highest
since the war ; comparison with pre-war years should take into account that from
1911 to 1940 the deaths are estimated and are least reliable for the period 1921-1930.
It is noteworthy that the death-rate in the quinquennium 1906-10 from accidents
involving vehicles and horses was almost as great as the current rate which, for the
most part, arises from accidents involving motor vehicles.
The death rate attributable to other violence at 0.22 remained the same as in 1955.
Infant
mortality
The infant mortality rate in 1956 was 21.3 per 1,000 live births which compares
with rates of 23.2 in 1955 and 20.6 in 1954. The movements since the years 1936-40 of
the death-rates from the principal diseases at ages below one year are shown in Table 7
(page 235). The diagram on page 18 illustrates the changes in the more important
current causes of death.
The increase in deaths assigned to congenital malformations and injury at birth
between 1936–40 and 1941-45 is partly attributable to changes in classification following
the adoption of the fifth revision of the International Causes of Death in 1938.
There were no infant deaths from tuberculosis or measles in 1956; compared with
1955 there were proportionately fewer deaths from bronchitis and pneumonia, gastroenteritis,
immaturity and post-natal asphyxia. The reduction in the last two is particularly
encouraging—immaturity is the highest single cause of infant mortality and the
decline in post-natal asphyxia is an interruption of the upward trend of the past twenty
vears. Congenital malformations and iniurv at birth show slight increases over 1955.
Neo-natal
mortality
Deaths in various periods of the first year of life during 1956 are shown in detail
in Table 6 (page 234). Deaths under four weeks numbered 830 or 15.9 per 1,000 live
births. Comparative rates for London and England and Wales in past years are:
Year(s) London England and Wales
1938 23.0 28.3
1940-1945 22.9 26.5
1946-1950 18.4 20.9
1951 17.3 18.9
1952 15.8 18.3
1953 16.1 17.7
1954 15.1 17.8
1955 16.7 17.3
1956 15.9 16.9
B*
17