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 1964
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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It has been remarked in previous years that a complex of factors probably accounts for
the higher rate in London—proportionately more single women (37.0 per cent. of those
aged 16-44 years in London, compared with 26.9 per cent. in England and Wales (Census
1961)), a high immigrant element in the population, a continuous influx of unmarried
women, many of whom are already pregnant and the facilities which London can offer to
an unmarried mother in the way of anonymity, ante-natal care and support from moral
welfare organisations.
The following table gives details of women seen by the moral welfare organisations in
1964, from which it will be seen that 1,001 (28.5 per cent.) were pregnant on arrival in
London and that, in all, 1,216 (34.6 per cent.) were not born in the United Kingdom.
It should be remembered that these components of the illegitimate births are minima; the
moral welfare organisations only dealt with 39 per cent. of unmarried mothers, though
doubtless they will tend to deal with proportionately more of the non-Londoners.
T able (v)—
| British (U.K.) | Eire | European | West Indian | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Londoners pregnant on arrival in London | 593 | (509) | 283 | (141) | 37 | (43) | 32 | (28) | 56 | (35) | 1,001 | (756) |
| *Non-Londoners not pregnant on arrival in London | 53 | (89) | 29 | (118) | 12 | (24) | 4 | ' (7) | 5 | (15) | 103 | (253) |
| Resident in London one year or more | 1,654 | (1,506) | 384 | (425) | 80 | (92) | 206 | (306) | 88 | (97) | 2,412 | (2,426) |
| 2,300 | (2,104) | 696 | (684) | 129 | (159) | 242 | (341) | 149 1 | (147) | 3,516 | (3,435) | |
Mortality
The total death rate at 11.0 per 1,000 population was the lowest figure since 1954 (the
number of deaths was the lowest ever recorded in London A.C.).
| Deaths | Rate per 1,000 population | |
|---|---|---|
| Diseases of the heart | 10,419 | 3.27 |
| Cancer | 7,946 | 2.50 |
| Bronchitis, pneumonia* | 4,360 | 1.37 |
| Vascular lesions of the central nervous system | 3,672 | 115 |
| Other circulatory | 1,978 | 0.62 |
| Violent causes | 1,669 | 0.52 |
| Digestive diseases | 1,078 | 0.34 |
| Diseases of early infancy (international classification nos. 760-776) | 713 | 0.28 |
| Congenital malformations (0-4 weeks) | 184 | |
| Diseases of genito-urinary system | 682 | 0.21 |
| Other respiratory including influenza | 347 | 0.11 |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 198 | 0.06 |
| All other causes | 1,810 | 0.57 |
| Total | 35,056 | 11.01 |
The ranking order of the leading causes of death has remained unchanged since 1954.
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