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Town Hall,
Dyne Road, Kilburn, N.W. 6
15th March, 1927.
To the Willesden Urban District Council—
The Local Sanitary Authority,
and the Local Education Authority.
I beg to submit herewith the Annual Health Report for Willesden for the year 1926. This
Report includes :—
(i.) The 51st Annual Report on the health and sanitary condition of the district ;
(ii.) The 19th Annual Report on the health of children attending the public elementary
schools;
(iii.) The 7th Annual Report on the health of children attending secondary schools;
(iv.) The 9th Annual Report on dental work in connection with children attending the
public elementary schools, expectant and nursing mothers and children
under 5 years;
(v.) The 7th Annual Report on home nursing;
(vi.) The 12th Annual Report on the provision of meals to children attending the public
elementary schools;
(vii.) The 35th Annual Report on the Municipal Hospital.
The Report is written in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health and
Board of Education.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The population of Willesden at Midsummer, 1926, was 173,854.
2,700 births occurred in Willesden during 1926, giving a birth rate of 15.53 per 1,000 of the
population. This is the lowest birth rate ever recorded in Willesden.
1,653 deaths occurred in 1926, giving a death rate of 9.51 per 1,000 of the population.
The infant mortality rate in 1926 was 53 per 1,000 births. This infant mortality rate is equal
to the lowest previously recorded, namely, 53 in 1923.
143 deaths of infants under one year occurred. 116 or 81.1 per cent. of these 143 deaths
were due to:-
1. Congenital Malformations 6, Premature Births 42, Atrophy, Debility and Marasmus
10, Atelectasis 4;
2. Diarrhoea and Enteritis 10;
3. Whooping Cough 4;
4. Measles 3;
5. Bronchitis 6; and
6. Pneumonia 31.
Year by year these six causes of death account for some 80 per cent. of all deaths of infants
under one year of age and active measures are required to prevent these conditions proving fatal.
CANCER.
As an outcome of the interest aroused by the special memorandum of Dr. W. D. Champneys
on this subject, appended to my annual report for 1925, the following resolution was passed by the
Council at its meeting on October 5th, 1926 " That in view of the fact that out of the total number
of adult deaths in Willesden for the last recorded year, one in six died of Cancer, and as this cause
of death is steadily on the increase, it be an instruction to the Health Committee to consider the
advisability of setting up a Special Committee, either of its own members or otherwise, for the study
of the problem of Cancer in Willesden, to collect evidence, to publish information concerning possible
preventive measures, and to enquire whether any, and if so what, palliative action would come
within the powers of the Local Authority."
The Health Committee considered this resolution at its meeting on 26th October, 1926, and
decided to appoint three of its members, one of whom was its Chairman, to consult with the Local
Medical Advisory Committee and report in due course. This conference took place on 2nd December,
1926, at the Town Hall, and the result of its deliberations was reported to the Health Committee by
the Chairman on 14th December, 1926, the Ministry of Health's Circular 716 on Cancer being considered
at the same time. After hearing their Chairman's report and considering the circular, the
Health Committee recommended " that the objects of the Council could be best obtained by referring
the question to the Health Propaganda Committee and to instruct the Committee to deal with the
question as a part of Health Propaganda generally." This recommendation was adopted by the
Council at its meeting on 28th December, 1926.