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conventional activities of the older public health they are,
nevertheless, an important part of the newer social medicine.
It is necessary to point this out before proceeding to examine
some of the statistical pointers to the health of the District.
The birth rate for 1954 was 13.9 per thousand of the
population compared with 14.6 per thousand in 1953, and
represents the lowest birth rate ever recorded in the District.
Thus the downward trend is still in evidence. The standardised
birth rate, which allows for comparison with other parts
of the country, is 13.3, but the rate is well below that for
England and Wales which was 15.2 it looks as if we may
have to regard a low birth rate as a permanent feature of our
modern society. When this is coupled with a low death rate
and a greater expectation of life, the result can only be an
ageing population with the many social and industrial problems
which that must bring.
The death rate for the District fell still further to 8.06
per thousand of the estimated home population compared
with 9.8 in 1953, and a rate of 11.3 per thousand for England
and Wales. The two main causes of death, as in recent
years, were diseases of the heart and blood vessels and cancer,
the latter including 16 deaths from cancer of the lung. The
prevention of cancer is one of the greatest public health
tasks of the future and may well be, in part, wrapped up with
a Clean Air policy as fore-shadowed by the Beaver Report.
Since we are mortal and must die of something, the best we
can hope for is that life should come quietly and peacefully
to an end without the intervention of any preventable catastrophe
in which category at least some forms of cancer
probably fall.
The infant mortality rate for 1954, that is the number
of children dying in the first year of life for every thousand
live births, was 10.1 per thousand against 24.5 per thousand
in 1953. This is the lowest rate ever recorded in Crayford.
but what is even more important is that the overall trend
of infant mortality is favourable and there are bound to be
annual variations which are to some extent due to the small
numbers with which we are dealing.
Although there were 399 total births during the year,
there were no maternal deaths. This is a fine record and
speaks well for the obstetrical services in the area and for
the standard of ante-natal care available for the expectant
mother.
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