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3
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR 1961
Town Hall,
Anerley Road, S.E.20
10th August, 1962
To the Chairman and Members of the Urban District Council of Penge.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year 1961, which
is compiled in accordance with Ministry Circular No. 1/62.
Among the vital statistics it will be noted that the birth rate has risen and
is above the national average, while the death rate has fallen and is below that
of the rest of the country. Unfortunately the stillbirth rate and the infantile
mortality rate are both higher than the national average. The death rate from
cancer compares favourably with other parts of the country, but nevertheless,
twelve men died from cancer of the lung. It is fresh in everyone's mind that
the Report of the Royal College of Physicians on Smoking and Lung Cancer
proved very conclusively the connection between lung cancer and cigarette
smoking. It is not going to be an easy task to educate people to adopt other
forms of smoking if they are unprepared to give it up altogether. At least we
can start by trying to teach the young of the risks to health from the cigarette
habit and in this parents and teachers can co-operate while effective steps are
taken by the various authorities to see that the law against supplying cigarettes
to young people under 16 is strictly enforced.
There was a fairly large outbreak of measles during the year, but the
disease was a mild type on the whole. I am glad to report for the fourteenth
year in succession no case of diphtheria occurred. Immunisation has been
offered through the Kent County Council and general practitioners against
Diphtheria, Whooping Cough and Tetanus, and vaccination against Smallpox
and Poliomyelitis. These have been taken advantage of by a considerable
number of parents for their children, but there are still too many who hold
back for various reasons.
The department has been very fully occupied with slum clearance and the
Clean Air Act, and a considerable amount of time has been given by your
inspectors at week-ends and in the evenings dealing with the various problems
that have arisen. We are now beginning to see the results of our slum clearance
programme in the Groves Development Area where the tower blocks are beginning
to rise above the houses they will eventually replace.
The first smokeless area comes into force in September.