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 1960
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Mortality
The total death rate at 11.4 per 1,000 population was lower than the previous year (11.8)
but about the average of the last decade.
| Deaths | Rate per 1,000 population | |
|---|---|---|
| Diseases of the heart | 11,205 | 3.51 |
| Cancer | 8,079 | 2.53 |
| Bronchitis, pneumonia* | 4,277 | 1.34 |
| Vascular lesions of the central nervous system | 4,085 | 1.28 |
| Other circulatory | 1,833 | 0.57 |
| Violent causes | 1,580 | 0.49 |
| Digestive diseases | 1,199 | 0.38 |
| Diseases of early infancy (international classification | ||
| Nos. 760.776) | 709 | 0.27 |
| Congenital malformations, 0.4 weeks | 144 | |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 269 | 008 |
| All other causes | 3,141 | 0.98 |
| Total | 36,521 | 11.43 |
* Excluding pneumonia of the new born (under 4 weeks) which is included in ' Diseases of early infancy
The ranking order of the leading causes of death remains unchanged from 1959. Heart
disease was discussed in detail in my report for 1956 and cancer in 1958; a discussion of
bronchitis and pneumonia is given in later pages of this report.
Cancer—The cancer death.rate for all ages was 2.53 per 1,000 in 1960—an increase
over the previous year and a continuation of the upward trend which was only slightly
interrupted in 1959. Cancer is, however, largely a disease of the later half of life and in
order to eliminate variations caused by a changing age/sex composition of the population,
rates for specific age/sex groups are shown below:
Table (v)—
| Age and Sex | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males: | ||||||||||
| 0.24 | 009 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.14 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.10 | 0.12 |
| 25.44 | 0.45 | 0.45 | 0.46 | 0.41 | 0.40 | 0.43 | 0.37 | 0.42 | 0.40 | 0.38 |
| 45.64 | 4.28 | 4 19 | 4.28 | 4.31 | 4.50 | 4.51 | 4.55 | 4.52 | 4.46 | 4.75 |
| 65+ .. | 15.64 | 15*50 | 15.69 | 15.29 | 15.73 | 15.77 | 15.29 | 16.01 | 15.20 | 15.74 |
| All Males | 2.60 | 2 61 | 2.68 | 2.64 | 2.73 | 2.76 | 2.77 | 2.85 | 2.76 | 2.90 |
| Females: | ||||||||||
| 0.24 | 008 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 006 | 0.07 | 0.09 | 0.07 | 0.10 | 0.07 | 0.07 |
| 25.44 | 0.46 | 0.47 | 0.51 | 0.43 | 0.45 | 0.50 | 0.47 | 0.52 | 0.51 | 0.52 |
| 45.64 | 2.80 | 2.85 | 2.85 | 2.85 | 2.93 | 2.77 | 2.97 | 2.71 | 2.63 | 2.82 |
| 65+ | 8.79 | 8.77 | 8.73 | 8.39 | 8.43 | 8.75 | 8.34 | 8.50 | 818 | 8.44 |
| All Females | 1.99 | 2.02 | 2.04 | 2.02 | 2.08 | 2.12 | 2.16 | 2.15 | 2.09 | 2.20 |
| All Persons | 2.27 | 2.30 | 2.34 | 2.31 | 2.39 | 2.42 | 2.44 | 2.47 | 2.40 | 2.53 |