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ANNUAL REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR THE YEAR 1957
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Borough of Hendon.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report for the year 1957.
The vital statistics for the year show a satisfactory state of affairs. There
has been an estimated slight decrease in the total population.
The infant mortality rate, which has been accepted as a measure of the standard
of public health is at the low figure of 21.9 per 1,000 live births.
I am pleased to report too that no maternal death occurred during the year.
In 1957 two important anniversaries were celebrated. First of all the Borough
of Hendon received its Charter in 1932 and so celebrates its first quarter-century.
Secondly, the Hampstead Garden Suburb was onened in 1907 and so celebrated its
Jubilee in 1957. The Hampstead Garden Suburb introduced a high standard of suburban
housing which has had a nation-wide influence.
A description of the progress made in public health and preventive medicine in
the last 50 years in Hendon would fill many pages of this report. It is, however,
interesting to look back at some of the Annual Reports of former years and to read,
for example, that in 1923 Dr. Mcintosh reported that there were no houses unfit for
human habitation remaining on the books of the Public Health Department. It is even
more interesting to contemplate what progress we may achieve in the next 50 years.
Progress has been so fast in the last 50 years that we may expect it to be equally
fast in the next 50 years.
Cleaner air is certain to come, and we have been given a good lead by the
Ministry of Housing and Local Government with the Clean Air Act, and steady progress
is being made with the Smoke Control Area in the north of Edgware Ward. There is,
however, no reason why one should wait for the setting up by the Council of a Smoke
Control Area before using smokeless fuel. Indeed, it is hoped that more and more of
our public spirited citizens will adopt the use of smokeless fuel in their own homes
and so set a fashion which, in time, will spread to every householder. An increased
demand for smokeless fuel will undoubtedly stimulate the manufacturers to produce
more and more of it, and the results will be most beneficial. Not only would cleaner
air improve our health, but we would be spared a lot of unnecessary expense on
laundry, furnishings and paintwork because it has been estimated that the expenditure
on these items as a result of burning bituminous coal costs between £3 and £10 per
head per annum: At this rate smoke may cost Hendon as much as £1,000,000 a year.
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