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2
COUNTY BOROUGH OF CROYDON.
ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
For the Year 1954
To the Chairman and Members of the Health Committee.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
I have the honour to present the Annual Report on the health
of the people of Croydon and the relevant services of the Corporation
for the year ending December 31st, 1954.
As judged by vital statistics, it was a satisfactory year
with an increased birthrate, low general and infant mortality
rates, fewer deaths from tuberculosis than ever before and an
absence of any outbreak of serious infectious disease. These conditions
are the result of measures advocated and applied in the
past and now sustained and amplified by a rising standard of
living. Such efforts must not be relaxed, but the rate of improvement
due to them grows steadily smaller.
We must look to other developments in preventive medicine for
renewed impetus. In this connection, the report of the Committee
on Air Pollution issued in 1954 is of the first importance. To
secure for urban residents atmospheric conditions equal to those
enjoyed by country dwellers will, in my view, bring advantages
equalling any so far achieved by a single public health measure.
This is unquestionably a complex national problem of very great
magnitude and it is essential for general legislation to set
the pattern within which local authorities may deal with local
conditions. I hope that next year it will be possible to report
on the commencement of this campaign.
For the first time since 1939, surveys for Slum Clearance
schemes were made. Fortunately, the percentage of houses in Croydon
likely to be unfit appears less than 2% of the total. Difficulties
of replacement will be due to lack of building sites, as
approximately two new houses take up the ground occupied by three
slum properties. On the general question of housing, the census
figures quoted in the statistical section show that separate
dwellings have increased in Croydon since 1931 by 28% and