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ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH.
To the Mayor, Alderman and Councillors
of the Borough of Bexley.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the pleasure to present my Annual Report for the
year 1947.
The vital statistics for the year show that the Borough of
Bexley continues to be a healthy place to live in. Although
the birth rate (18.72) was slightly lower than that for the year
1946 (19.47), and the death rate (9.17) slightly higher than the
rate for 1946 (8.85) it is probable that these changes are not
statistically significant. It is pleasing to report, however,
that the infant mortality rate, that very sensitive index of
social conditions, has shown a further reduction of 28.6 per
1,000 live births as compared with 29.5 per 1,000 live births in
1946. It is a remarkable factor that in only one year previously,
namely, 1943, was the infant mortality rate (26.01)
lower in the Borough. The causes of the falling infant
mortality rate, experienced both locally and in the country as a
whole, would appear to be due, firstly, to the general fall in the
birth rate which began during the last quarter of the nineteenth
century, the great improvements in environmental hygiene
during the same period, and last, but not least, to the painstaking
educational work which has been carried out during
the past 40 years at Infant Welfare Clinics and in the homes.
This period has seen a large reduction of deaths from gastro
enteritis and from respiratory diseases which were, in the
past, responsible for so many infantile deaths. Even the
stress and strain of war could not interrupt this downward
trend of infantile mortality which seems to prove, inter alia,
that an enlightened public opinion on matters of health is a
potent factor in overcoming the numerous threats to human
life from bacterial and other causes.
These thoughts are not without significance at the present
time when, as a result of the passing of the National Health
Service Act, 1946, the responsibility for Maternity and Child
Welfare Services has passed out of the hands of the smaller
authorities who, with certain voluntary agencies, were the
pioneers in this work, into the custody of the major
authorities. While there is bound to be regret at the loss of
these Services there may, also, be a legitimate pride in the
achievements of past years.
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