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INTRODUCTION.
To the Chairman and Members of the Public Health Committee.
I H A V E the honour to present a report on the health of the Borough
during 1953.
The Infantile Mortality rate has now fallen to a record low figure
of 12.5 per 1,000 live births. My impression is that this is due to a
diminution of deaths of infants from infections possibly related to
increasing use of new drugs, increasing care of premature infants
including improved hospital accommodation and improving facilities
for the care of Rhesus mothers and babies. The present Beckenham
figure is less than half the total for England and Wales.
The number of births is slightly lower this year (891 compared
with 937 last year) but I do not think this fully accounts for the lower
figure of infant mortality.
The Maternal Mortality rate increased by .06 per 1,000, though
there was in England and Wales a general reduction in this rate. Though
statistically small this figure is still significant.
There were fifteen fewer deaths from cancer with a corresponding
reduction in the rate which now stands at 2.08 per 1,000 population.
This is however much larger than the rate of 30 years ago which was
1.55 per 1,000. No classification of cancer deaths was kept at this time
and the emphasis then was on deaths from infectious diesases. To-day
the emphasis is on deaths from cancer, especially cancer of the lung
and on other causes of death more related to the times, such as deaths
from motor vehicle accidents, other accidental causes and circulatory
diseases.
In view of the increase in interest in accidents in the home and
industry, it might be of value to further classify the other accidental
causes on these lines in the list of causes issued by the General Register
Office to Medical Officers of Health.
In Beckenham there was an increase of 8 deaths from cancer of the
lung (7 male, 1 female). Deaths from other cancers slightly decreased.
There was, early in May, a very small outbreak of acute poliomyelitis.
There were no deaths. In spite of this increased incidence there
were two less cases for the whole year, and the number of paralytic cases
remained at the same figure of 8.
Measles and Whooping Cough were very prevalent. From January
to May, 1,078 cases of Measles were reported compared with 3 during
the same period in 1952 (total 1952 was 179). 308 cases of Whooping
Cough were reported compared with 125 in 1952.
Notified cases of Food Poisoning decreased by 7. A case of Enteric
Fever was notified after the diagnosis had been confirmed in hospital
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