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15
On pages 46 to 47 there are shown the results of a special investigation
into the incidence of leptospiral infection in some 32 live rats caught in
various parts of the Borough ; and an interesting by-product of this work
was the sidelight it has shed on the presence and habits of the black or
" ship " rat.
County Health Services (National Health Service Act—Part IH).
On " the appointed day " (5th July, 1948) all health services within the
province of the then new National Service Act (Part III)—including the
services formerly administered by Leyton Corporation as the local Maternity
and Child Welfare Authority—were transferred to Essex County Council.
Fortunately for the continuity of the services, the County Council delegated
most of the administration to local Health Area Sub-Committees and most
of the day-to-day work to the existing local staff. It was, of course, inevitable
that during the early days of transition there should have occurred " teething
troubles " of many kinds. That such difficulties were satisfactorily resolved
was due in some measure to the understanding manner in which they were
handled by the County Council and its staff; but much of the credit for the
smoothness of the change in administration was undoubtedly due to the
active and informed interest—in all aspects of the work of the department
and its staff—taken by Councillor Mrs. A. M. M. Burrell, E.C.C., who has
officiated as Chairman of Leyton Health Area Sub-Committee during the
difficult years since its initiation in 1948.
The infantile mortality rate is the lowest ever recorded, and will be
found to compare very favourably with that of any other town in the country.
In 1929—the first whole year of my service in Leyton—the infantile mortality
rate (i.e., the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000
births) was 57.77 ; and in the year under review the rate has fallen to
14.61—the lowest ever recorded. In other words, there has been effected
during these 26 years a saving of more than 43 lives during their first year
among every 1,000 children born. In addition to the great saving of infant
lives, there has been brought about a corresponding decrease in sickness and
incapacity among the children who survive ; for the diseases that kill some
children can be reckoned to cripple and injure many others. The fact that
the lowest infantile mortality rate ever recorded in Leyton occurred during a
year of adverse climatic conditions substantiates the view that such factors
play but a small part in the deaths of infants. Leaving aside the influence of
heredity, a child's health and happiness depend primarily on the ability of
the mother to discharge her maternal functions.
The neo-natal mortality rate (i.e., number of deaths of children in the
first 28 days of life per 1,000 births) has fallen from 24.28 in 1928 to 8.11 in
1954 (i.e., to a third of what it was).
In 1928 some 10 Leyton mothers died from causes connected with
childbirth ; last year the comparative maternal mortality figure was three.
Since 1950 there have been two years in which no Leyton mother died from
childbirth.