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Public Health Office,
24, Somerset Street,
London, W.
13 th May, 1914.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Metropolitan
Borough of St. Marylebone.
Mr. Mayor, Madam and Gentlemen,
In accordance with the instructions of the Local Government Board, I beg to
submit the following Report for the year 1913, on the public health and sanitary
condition of the Borough of St. Marylebone.
In the main it is a satisfactory report. The interest taken in public health work
by the Council, is, I believe, very sincere, and at no time since I have been in
office could it truthfully have been stated that there had been any desire on their part
to neglect the responsibility with which they are entrusted in this connection. That
any evidence of such neglect could have been produced it is impossible to believe.
The desire to improve the chances of babies born within the Borough has been
very real, and it is because the Council themselves have put forth efforts and have
seconded the efforts of others anxious to do work which would lead to the saving of
infant lives that the infantile mortality rate has been steadily falling for a number of
years, and that 1913 saw it reduced to 90.8, the lowest ever recorded.
In relation to the prevention of tuberculosis, it may be claimed that the Council
have proceeded as rapidly as they have been permitted to proceed, and have chafed at
the delays which they have been compelled to suffer.
The work in respect of the ordinary infectious diseases is largely routine in
character and the amount that can be done with regard to the other diseases is limited,
because medical knowledge as to their causation is limited. So much prevention as
can be brought about by improving the surroundings and housing of the people, by
searching for detects in sanitation and seeing that remedies are carried out, by protecting
the food supply and so on, is obtained.
Evidence as to the extent of the work done in this connection will be found in
the portion of this report headed "Departmental" and a reference to the most recent
Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health of the London County Council, that
of 1912, shows how favourably the record of the Borough compares with that of the
others in the metropolis.
In carrying out the work during 1913, the greatest amount of assistance was
obtained from the Public Health Committee. The members, under the chairmanship
of Councillor Sir Horatio H. Shephard, took the keenest interest in what was done,
and were always ready to sympathetically consider any suggestion brought forward.