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ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR THE YEAR 1956
June, 1957
To the Chai man and Members of the
Rui slip-Northwood Urban District Council:
Mr, Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is a factual report on the work of the Public Health
Department during 1956, The year was uneventful and there was no
epidemic or other upset to give cause for any anxiety on the
public health side,
The population of the district reached in mid. 1956
73,930 which was a slight increase over the previous year and
it is estimated that there are 21,409 inhabited dwellings. The
corrected birth rate of 13,86 and the corrected death rate of
9.27 compare with the national rates of 15.7 and 11.7
respectively. The infant mortality of 15.76 shows a welcome
decrease from 22,83 in the previous year. The infant mortality
figure is liable to show rather violent changes fromyear to year
because the numbers being dealt with are comparatively few and
even one infant death more or less can affect the rate quite
considerably. Deaths of infants under one year both in this
district and nationally have reached the lowest level ever and
it is doubtful if much further reduction can be achieved without
some further substantial increase in medical knowledge.
Reference to the table in the body of the report showing the
causes of infant deaths will demonstrate that these infant
deaths are occurring from a number of conditions, the causations
of which are still obscure. It is therefore difficult to know
what preventive measures to adopt until the causes of these
conditions are accurately known However, much research is
going on into these questions and no doubt some increase in
knowledge will result.
There is not much to be said about the incidence of
infectious disease in the district; 1956 was not a 'measles'
year - there were only 273 cases compared with 1,344 in the
previous year Measles tends to be epidemic in biennial waves
and 1955 was a big year and it is probable that 1957 will be
similar.
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