View report page

5
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Borough of Dagenham.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit my report upon the Health Services
of the Borough for the year 1938.
Perusal of the report will show that the health of
the people compares favourably with that of similar
districts, and the statistics with those of the country
as a whole.
The birth-rate at 18 per thousand remains high,
but is slightly lower than that for 1937. The infant
mortality rate of 50.51 is remarkably low, especially
when one has in mind the very large child population.
This figure reflects credit not only on your services, but
also on the care bestowed by the mothers on their infants.
Ninety-one per cent, of children under one year of age
attended the infant welfare centres.
The incidence of Diphtheria and Scarlet Fever is
also worthy of note ; in both diseases there is a marked
drop, in the latter the total number of notifications
tailing by over one hundred.
The domiciliary midwifery scheme, the newest of
our services, has worked well, and has been in operation
sufficiently long to enable an assessment of its value as