View report page

4
To the Chairman and Members of the Urban District Council
of Dagenham.
Mr. Chairman, Madam and Gentlemen,
In presenting my Report on the Health and Sanitary
Circumstances of the district for the year 1927, it is my pleasure
to be submitting my first Annual Report as your first full-time
Medical Officer of Health.
Dr. A. Ball was Acting Medical Officer from April 1st, 1926
(which was the date on which the order constituting the
Urban District came into operation) to April 4th, 1927, when
I commenced duties.
This district is composed of two elements, the smaller old
established community and the large estate erected here by
the London County Council. The unprecedented growth which
has taken place presents its own particular difficulties, not the
least being the fact that an Urban population has been transferred
to a place which was, and is still in some ways, rural.
It will be seen in the body of the Report that the estimate
for the mid-year population is taken as 50,000. Although
greatly exceeding the Registrar General's figure, even this
is probably an under-statement, a more accurate figure being
nearer 55,000. An increase in this figure would result in the
lowering of our incidence rate of infectious disease. It would
also similarly affect the birth and death rates, though not, of
coursc, the Infant Mortality Rate.
An attempt has been made in the Report to distribute the
population amongst its age groups. Such compilation from
Death Returns might be regarded as placing too great a
strain on assumption. There are, however, some independent
checks which tend to show that these estimates are reasonably
accurate. For instance, as regards births, if the population were
distributed normally one would expect 850 children under one
year of age. With the assumed distribution there are 1,250,
while the actual number of births registered in the year was
1,210. Again, of children of school age, with a normal distribution
there would be 8,500. The theoretical number