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Population.
The Registrar General gives the population at mid-year 1948
as 58,320, which is equivalent to 2.8 persons per acre. The progressive
increase in population since urbanisation brings with it
responsibilities in Local Government administration, responsibilities
which the Local Authority is meeting with success.
It is now some 18 years since the last census was taken, and
it is not possible, with any accuracy, to give those details of
population which a census provides, and which are so important
in dealing with social medicine. It may be argued that application
of vital statistics to a comparatively small population is of
little value. It is only by applying these statistics to unit populations
that one is able to discover the good and bad areas. It
is in such fields that the Medical Officer of Health, with staff, and
access to all records of all social health services, has a scope of
work which would offer a needful field of research.
The proportional increase in the numbers of aged persons
has brought with it new problems, which are now receiving the
attention of those authorities responsible for the care of such
persons. Geriatrics promises much towards alleviating this
problem of the care and treatment of the aged ; but, before one
can apply social medicine to the care of the aged, one must have
a knowledge of the vital statistics and the conditions under
which the aged are living.
I am giving a tabulation of the distribution of population
in wards, with an indication of the density in each ward. This
is self-explanatory. It is a pity that until such time as a census
can be taken, I am unable to give the age grouping in each ward.