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ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Bexley.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the
year 1952.
The vital statistics of the Borough for the year 1952
have again been satisfactory indicating that the health of
the population, as measured by the instruments at our
disposal, has been maintained. It is necessary to add the
caution that there are no morbidity statistics relating
specifically to the Borough so that we do not know how
many people had, during the year, to attend hospital, to
visit their private doctors, to resort to self-medication or
who failed to achieve that degree of functional efficiency
which is the essence of health; but there is reason to believe
that the number was considerable.
The birth rate for 1952 was 12 per 1,000 of the population
compared with 12.79 in 1951. The birth rate for 1952
after correction by the comparability factor supplied by the
Registrar General was 11.28. The uncorrected birth rate
for England and Wales was 15.3 so that the Bexley rate for
the year was appreciably lower than the national rate and
was, in fact, the lowest rate ever recorded in the Borough.
This rate was linked with a new low record in the infant
mortality rate, namely, 11.34 per 1,000 live births and
justified the optimism expressed in the 1950 annual report
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