London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Chislehurst 1958
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Chislehurst]
This page requires JavaScript
15
Of the deaths registered, 402 were males and 354 females.
The following is an analysis of the ages at death:—
| Male. | Female. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year of age | 16 | 12 | 28 |
| 1 and under 15 years of age | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 15 and under 25 years of age | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 25 and under 45 years of age | 17 | 12 | 29 |
| 45 and under 65 years of age | 123 | 71 | 194 |
| 65 and under 75 years of age | 97 | 77 | 174 |
| 75 years of age and over | 136 | 177 | 313 |
| 402 | 354 | 756 |
Full details of the causes of death will be found in Table II in the appendix but the following figures may be of interest:—
| 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer (all sites) | 102 | 131 | 132 | 127 | 154 | 149 | 157 | 127 | 151 | 156 |
| Respiratory Diseases (not T.B.) | 55 | 59 | 89 | 72 | 80 | 73 | 87 | 88 | 99 | 96 |
| Tuberculosis | 35 | 30 | 30 | 22 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 10 |
| Heart and Circulatory Diseases | 257 | 330 | 361 | 377 | 325 | 320 | 353 | 329 | 348 | 356 |
| Infectious Diseases | 15 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Road Traffic Accidents | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Other violent causes | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 13 |
| Cancer of the Lung and Bronchus | * | 31 | 22 | 21 | 38 | 36 | 44 | 31 | 34 | 41 |
(* No figures available. Separate records commenced in 1950)
Deaths from the major causes remained almost unchanged
compared with the previous year, with the single exception of those
due to lung cancer, which increased from 34 to 41. The problems
posed by this disease are referred to in my introductory letter.
A satisfactory feature of the figures has again been the small
number of deaths due to tuberculosis and other infectious diseases,
and that there were no deaths from poliomyelitis.
LOCAL SICKNESS.
The following is a summary of the weekly details received from
the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance during 1958:—
Four weeks ending Number of First Certificates of incapacity received.
28th January 1,509
25th February 1,082
25th March 1,012
22nd April 833
20th May 666
17th June 508
15th July 504
12th August 433
9th September 543
7th October 625
4th November 887
2nd December 1,026
30th December 720