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URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL OF COULSDON AND PURLEY.
HEALTH REPORT FOR 1937.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present to you my Annual Report for 1937, this being
my sixth Report as your Medical Officer of Health.
It will be found that the arrangement adopted in preceding Reports
has been retained to facilitate reference, but with the development
of the services several new sections have had to be added, and others
extended.
I am pleased to be able to report that in general the year under
review was a very satisfactory one as judged by the recognised standards.
The Birth Rate increased for the fourth year in succession; the Death
Rate remained steady and at a low level; the Infantile Mortality Rate
very slightly increased, and the Maternal Mortality Rate slightly
decreased, but both compared very favourably with other districts
and the Country as a whole.
In spite of the outbreak of typhoid fever, in which 20 residents
were affected, the incidence of infectious disease was one of the
lowest experienced by the District. The diminution in Diphtheria to a
new low level record was particularly satisfactory.
Although it has no connection therewith, one of the outstanding
events of the year was the inauguration of a scheme for immunisation
against diphtheria. It is most noteworthy for the fact that not since
the days when vaccination against small pox was introduced has a
corporate effort been made to stamp out a disease by specific treatment
calculated to enhance the immunity of the group. Unlike the introduction
of vaccination, however, diphtheria immunisation has been
made a matter for voluntay co-operation from the first. This freedom
of choice has increased the responsibility upon parents of carefully
considering whether this form of treatment is not advisable for their
children. Certainly the present absence of severe diphtheria should
not be made an excuse for procrastination. Further waves of the
disease will undoubtedly occur unless a high degree of immunity is present
in the District.
Another feature of 1937 was the coming into force of the Midwives
Act which aims at an improved midwifery service for ah, together with
a higher status for, and better standard among midwives. The Council
appointed two midwives at the end of the year, and it is hoped that
residents, especially in the Sanderstead and Selsdon areas, will avail
themselves of their services.
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