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 1961

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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8
Mortality
The total death rate at 11.9 per 1,000 population was higher than the previous year (11.4)
and slightly above the average of the last decade.

Table: Leading causes of death—The leading causes of death in London in 1961 were as follows:

Leading causes of death—The leading causes of death in London in 1961 were as follows:

DeathsRate per 1,000 population
Diseases of the heart11,5093.62
Cancer7,7822.45
Bronchitis, pneumonia*5,1551.62
Vascular lesions of the central nervous system3,9651.25
Other circulatory2,0270.64
Violent causes1,7010.53
Digestive diseases1,2240.38
Diseases of early infancy (international classification Nos. 760-776)7650.29
Congenital malformations (0—4 weeks)152
Tuberculosis (all forms)3180.10
All other causes3,3171.04
Total37,91511.92

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* 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 1960. Heart
disease was discussed in detail in my report for 1956, cancer in 1958 and bronchitis and
pneumonia in 1960.
Cancer—The cancer death-rate for all ages was 2.45 per 1,000 in 1961—a slight decrease
from the previous year. 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: Table (v)— Cancer mortality rates per1,000living, 1952-61

Table (v)— Cancer mortality rates per1,000living, 1952-61

Age and Sex1952195319541955195619571958195919601961
Males:
0.240.120.140.120.110.140.110.090.100.120.11
25.440.450.460.410.400.430.370.420.400.380.37
45.644.194.284.314.504.514.554.524.464.754.52
65+15.5015.6915.2915.-7315.7715.2916.0115.2015.7415.72
All Males2.612.682.642.732.762.772.852.762.902.83
Females:
0.24.0.070.070.060.070.090.070.100.070.070.07
25.440.470.510.430.450.500.470.520.510.520.50
45.642.852.852.852.932.772.972.712.632.822.72
65+8.778.738.398.438.758.348.508.188.448.02
All Females2.022.042.022.082.122.162.152.092.202.11
All Persons2.302.342.312.392.422.442.472.402.532.45

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Lung cancer—The lung has become the principal site for cancer in males and the table
below shows, for three age groups, the steep rise that has occurred in the last decade
together with, for comparison, the corresponding figures for females.