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4
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Erith
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report for the
year 1956.
From the standpoint of the customary vital statistics, the
health of the Borough has been well maintained. The infant
mortality rate for 1956 was 12.35 per thousand live births
compared with 20.41 per thousand in 1955. This is the
lowest rate ever recorded in the Borough. An analysis of these
figures shows that five deaths occurred during the first month
of life (neo-natal deaths), the causes of which were associated
with prematurity and congenital malformation, over
which no significant degree of control is possible at present.
One of the three deaths occurring after the fourth week
was due to meningeal infection which may have been preventable;
the other two were due to prematurity and subarachnoid
haemorrhage respectively, neither of which is closely
connected with environmental conditions.
There were again no maternal deaths during the year, and
indeed no maternal death has occurred in the Borough for
the fourth year in succession. 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.
The vital statistics are fully sent out on pages 11-14
together with comparisons for each year in the past decade.
In legard to infectious disease, poliomyelitis constitutes
the main challenge at the present time and little is known as
to the conditions which determine whether any particular
year will experience a heavy or mild incidence. In the present
state of knowledge, the most direct way of eliminating cases
or, alternatively, of preventing serious paralysis, is the vaccination
of as many individuals as possible, and it must be borne
in mind that, although children must be given priority, 3
age groups in the population are susceptible and it may well
have to be extended to adults as well. This, obviously, would
introduce problems of the supply of vaccine and, also or
medical and nursing manpower to cope with the large scale
of operations required. In Erith, registered children in the age
group of two to nine years were inoculated during 1956 under
arrangements made by the Local Health Authority and 256
children received two injections and 29 received one injection.
These facilities are now being extended to include children
between the ages of one and two years.