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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Friern Barnet,
Middlesex.
The Chairman and Members of the
Friern Barnet Urban District Council.
Madam Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the Annual Report
of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1956.
The period under review was again comparatively
uneventful. No major epidemics or outbreaks of infectious
diseases occurred. Indeed, the total number of infectious
disease notified during the year (193) was the lowest
recorded since 1939. The matter of infectious diseases
will be discussed in greater detail in the section of
the Report dealing with prevalence and control.
The vital statistics were also satisfactory.
The birth rate again rose very slightly, from 11.1 in 1955
to 11.6. The death rate, apart from deaths which occurred
in Friern Hospital, remained almost stationary (9.1 in 1955;
8.9 in 1956). It is once again pleasing to report that
no maternal deaths occurred during the year. Only one
maternal death has been recorded in Friern Barnet within
the past ten years, during which period 3,140 births have
taken place. The infantile mortality rate, i.e. the
number of infants who died under 1 year per thousand live
births was 21.1 an appreciable decrease over the figure
for 1955, which was 25.2. It is also important to note
that, of the total number of seven infants under 1 year
who died during 1956, no fewer than five died during the
first four weeks of life. The importance of this figure
lies in the fact that deaths of infants under one year
which take place within the first few weeks of life are
more often than not unpreventable. Although the
prevention of infant mortality is one which rests very
largely with the County Council, I need scarcely inform
the Council that all deaths are carefully investigated and
all steps taken to ensure that preventable causes are
reduced to the practical minimum.
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