London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Coulsdon and Purley 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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PART 2 - ASSESSMENT OF THE HEALTH
OF THE DISTRICT.
VITAL STATISTICS.
For many years information has been collected nationally
with a view to deducing whether the general state of the public
health is satisfactory, to noting any tendencies to variation and to
the introduction of any measures which appear desirable for its
improvement.
The following table is one way of presenting concisely what
has been happening in the District since 1920. What the various
'Rates' mean will be dealt with in subsequent sections, but it should
first be noted that in each of the first seven columns an average
for the five years referred to has been given. Averages are desirable
in order to even out the wide differences which are apt to occur
from year to year when dealing with only relatively small numbers.
An illustration of this will be included later.
| Rates per1,000 population. | 1920-1924. | 1925-1929. | 1930-1934. | 1935-1939. | 1940-1944. | 1945-1949. | 1950-1954. | 1955. | 1956. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate | 13.5 | 12.9 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 12.0 | 12.9 | 13.6 |
| Percentage illegitimate | 3.4% | 3.7% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 2.7% | 2.5% | 2.3% |
| Stillbirth rate | — | — | — | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.24 | 0.26 | 0.20 |
| Death rate | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 9.7 | 12.1 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| Cancer death rate | 0.96 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 1.19 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 2.02 | 2.19 | 2.29 |
| Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) | 57 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 48 | 36 | 25 | 21 | 23 |
| Violence including Suicide | 0.44 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 0.37 | 0.46 | 0.59 | 0.65 |
| Maternal mortality rate per 1,000 live and still births | 2.08 | 2.66 | 3.21 | 2.27 | 2.10 | 1.12 | 1.01 | Nil | Nil |
| Infant mortality rate(per 1.000 registered births) | 28 | 38 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 26 | 21 | 24 | 10 |
| Neonatal mortality rate | - | - | - | 26 | 28 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 7 |
| Estimated population | 21,351 | 28,950 | 41,616 | 53,084 | 49.880 | 60,610 | 64.466 | 65,420 | 66,460 |
BIRTHS.
For various reasons it is important to know how many babies
are being born each year. For example, we want to know the
total number of persons in the Country, how many places will be
needed in the infants' schools five years hence and so on.
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