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TO THE
MAYOR ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS
OF THE
BOROUGH OF SOUTHGATE
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present the Annual Report of the Medical Officer of
Health for the year 1951.
The form of this year's Annual Report is broadly the same as
that of previous years. Certain minor amendments have been
made, especially in the rearrangement of material and the inclusion
of new tables.
As before, uncritical reference has been made to the work
carried out in Southgate by the Middlesex County Council and
other bodies. This allows the health picture to be presented as a
whole, and not in isolated fragments.
The vital statistics for 1951 were again satisfactory. These
statistics are set out in greater detail in the body of the Report.
It may meantime be stated that the Infantile Mortality Rate for
Southgate, i.e., the number of children born during 1951 who died
within the first 12 months of life, was a new record for the
district. Indeed, the figure (15.494) would have been considered
phenomenal not so many years ago. The infectious diseases picture
for the year was also satisfactory, in spite of the fact that no less
than 980 cases of measles were reported during the year, together
with 136 cases of pertussis. There was also an increase in the
incidence of Sonne dysentery, particularly in the New Southgate
part of the district. As will be seen from the appropriate section
of the Report, the type of infectious disease met with throughout
the year and throughout the Borough was generally mild, in many
instances extremely mild.
Although it is hoped that the Annual Report of the Medical
Officer of Health is still regarded as a useful document, which
contains information of interest to members of the Council, as well
as to local organisations and ratepayers generally, it cannot be
denied that the transference of personal health services from
Borough Councils such as Southgate to the County Council has
robbed the Annual Report of some, at least, of its former appeal.
It was always a pleasure, as well as a salutary exercise, to report
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