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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 1963, my eighteenth and probably the last to be submitted
to the Authority as at present constituted in view of
the creation of the London Borough of Bexley under the
London Government Act, 1963.
Eighteen years is not a long time in the life of a local
authority (although it does represent a substantial slice of
the working life of an individual) but it is long enough to
warrant a comparison of the health circumstances of the
Borough at the beginning and end of this period.
The year 1946 witnessed the beginning of the transition
from war to peace. The strain of bombardment of the civilian
population was lifted and the re-integration of family life
was assisted by the return of evacuated children and by an
acceleration of the rate of demobilisation of the Armed
Forces. Housing circumstances had been seriously affected
by bombing and the suspension of new building, and represented
the most serious of the problems facing the Borough
at that time. Difficulties in the process of resettlement in
civilian life inevitably occurred as a result of the enforced
separation, over a number of years, of husbands and wives,
children and parents; food shortages remained and in many
ways the discipline of the wartime years continued.
Strangely enough, in spite of these vicissitudes the
general health of the community, as evidenced by the vital
statistics of the area remained good. The infant mortality
rate (i.e. the number of children dying in the first year of
life per 1,000 live births), a very sensitive index of social
conditions, was 32.3 per 1,000 live births in 1946, a ven
favourable rate compared with previous years. At the outbreak
of the war the rate was 44.28 per 1,000. This rate has
continued to fall and in 1963, was 17.2 per 1,000 and, even
allowing for the fluctuations which are expected when
dealing with small numbers, it may be said with some
justification that there has been a downward trend since
the end of the war which is statistically significant. This has.
undoubtedly, been due to improved environmental conditions
including housing, an advance in child health services