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3
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR 1962
Town Hall,
Anerley Road, S.E.20
12th September, 1963.
To the Chairman and Members of the Urban District Council of Penge.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present my Annual Report for the year 1962, a year which has been
a very busy one for the department. In doing so I would like first to refer to the
Vital Statistics where it will be observed that the estimated population has
passed the twenty-six thousand mark, still further increasing the density of
population in this small district. The birth rate has again risen and I am glad to
report that the infantile mortality rates have fallen. All this points to an increased
demand for primary school places in the next few years. The percentage of
illegitimate births has again risen, but I would stress that this is not peculiar to
Penge but is a national problem and cannot be attributed to any one age group or
class of people.
Deaths from cancer of the lung numbered 15 of whom three were women.
It can fairly be said that the link between lung cancer and cigarette smoking is
generally accepted as proven, and therefore during the year an endeavour was
made to bring this home to the public by means of posters and the free distribution
through Council Offices of a reprint of an article in Readers Digest. How
far this method is successful in reaching the younger generation I am doubtful
and feel that example by parents and others having the care of the young would
probably be far more effective.
The incidence of infectious disease was very small and provided full
advantage of the various immunisation facilities is taken the district should
remain in this satisfactory state.
Although during the year I made no representations on slum clearance I
had before the end of the year made my necessary inspections and was able to
make the representations in January of this year. This marked the completion
as far as this department is concerned in rather less than three years of the first
half of the programme extending over ten years submitted to the Minister in
1960. Whilst on the subject of housing I would like to refer to a major problem
in this district, that of houses let in multiple occupation of which there are
probably several thousand. Elsewhere in his report the Chief Public Health
Inspector refers to the difficulty encountered in dealing with two of these houses.
I would like to draw attention to two sources of danger in them. The first of
these is the risk of fire. Almost in every case heating is provided by an oil
burning stove often without adequate protection from being knocked over or