View report page

THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
To The Chairman and Members of the Urban District Council of Crayford,
Mr, Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report for the year 1959 which is
prepared on the lines set out in Circular 1/60 of the Ministry of Health.
The Registrar General's estimate of the mid-year population of the Urban
District is 30,600 (30,280 in 1958). On the basis of the statistical informa
tion available, the health of the Urban District was well maintained. Although
as I have indicated in the past, these figures give only a partial picture of
the health situation of the area, they do present collectively a conspectus
of the position which is at least objective and capable of comparison with
other areas in the country as a whole. The environmental services operated
by the Council under a wide range of health legislation are, of course,
complementary to the Health and Welfare Services operated by the Kent County
Council under the National Health Service Act, 1946 and the National Assistance
Act, 1948, and comprise a wide range of personal health services vital to the
health of every section of the community ~ the young, the old, the infirm and
those who are physically or mentally handicapped. During the year the Council
gave evidence before the Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater
London and it is hoped the recommendations of the latter will achieve a degree
of unification of all the health services in the area which is so much to be
desired.
The standardised death rate for 1959 was 9.87 per thousand of the home
population compared with 11.6 for the whole of England and Wales. In 1958
the comparable death rate was 11.5, the practical point being that there were
36 fewer deaths during 1959 than in 1958. The standardised birth rate was
15.39 per thousand estimated home population compared with 16.5 per thousand
for the country as a whole. Fifteen infant deaths occurred during the first
year of life compared with eight during 1958. The infant mortality rate,
therefore, rose to 30.24 per thousand live births as compared with 14.7 per
thousand in the previous year. An examination of the causes of death, however,
showed that nearly all the deaths were due to prematurity or congenital
malformations and, broadly speaking, there was no question of any falling off
in the standards of child care. These deaths, in other words, may be considered
to have been due to causes outside the control of the health services.
In regard to infectious disease, apart from the biennial measles epidemic
which began in 1958 (266 cases) and continued into 1959 (228 cases), we had
much to be thankful for. For the tenth year in succession no case of diphtheria
occurred in the District but it is, however, essential that the public should
be constantly reminded of the fact that diphtheria has only been contained by
immunisation - it has not been abolished and its return as a killing disease
2.