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Friern Barnet and Hendon are to be amalgamated into one unit setting up a Borough
with a population of some 318,000. This project is, of course, unwelcome in many
quarters, but from the Public Health point of view it will certainly make the services
much more local than they are at the moment, and therefore be of benefit to these
services.
VITAL STATISTICS:
The Registrar-General's estimate at 30th June, 1962, showed an increaesd in
population—69,150 compared to 68,890 in 1961. The number of inhabited dwellings
as at 1st April, 1962, showed an increase of 240 to 21,560 reflecting a further fractional
but pleasing reduction in the number of occupants per dwelling.
One hundred and twenty-nine more babies were born in Finchley in 1962—
1,118 compared to 989 in the previous year, giving a birth rate of 15.5 per 1,000
population compared to the national average of 18.0.
I am pleased to record a decrease in infant mortality from 23.3 per 1,000 live
births in 1961 to 13.4 in 1962 compared with the provisional figure of 21.4 for England
and Wales. Of the total number of 15 infant deaths, 11 occurred in the first week of
life.
The death rate of 11.8 per 1,000 population was lower than that of 1961, i.e.,
815 compared to 847; the largest decrease being in the age group 25 and under 45
years. Once again the major causes of death were diseases of the heart and blood
vessels followed closely by cancer of various types. Cancer of the lung showed a slight
decrease from 39 deaths in 1961 to 36 deaths in 1962, approximately 50% of which
occurred in the age group 45 to 65 years, and further indicating the need for more
publicity emphasising the dangers of cigarette smoking.
COMMUNICABLE AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES:
The threat of smallpox which began in December, 1961, continued into March of
this year and the Department was extremely busy in connection with the distribution
of vaccine lymph, the tracing of contacts and the visiting of suspected cases which, in
the main, turned out to be chicken pox or allergic skin conditions. Fortunately no
actual cases occurred in Finchley. An outbreak of influenza unfortunately coincided
with our smallpox scare and resulted in the General Practitioners being badly overworked
during this period. March and April saw an outbreak of mumps.
There were no cases of poliomyelitis notified during the year, although a number
of suspected cases were investigated. This is a very happy position and I believe we
are now obtaining the benefit of the poliomyelitis vaccines which have been in use for
a number of years. Oral vaccine against poliomyelitis was made available to selected
groups in February of this year.
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