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BOROUGH OF WILLESDEN
Health Department,
54, Winchester Avenue,
Kilburn, London, N.W.6.
September, 1951.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Willesden.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit the Annual Report on the health and sanitary circumstances of the Borough for the
year 1950.
It is with a great deal of pleasure that I can report a general improvement in the health of the people of
the Borough. The general death rate, the infant mortality rate, and the cancer and tuberculosis death rates
have been reduced. There has also been a general reduction in the infectious disease rates, with the exception
of measles, whooping cough, and tuberculosis. There was no epidemic of anterior poliomyelitis during
the year (there were only 12 confirmed cases). The infant mortality rate was the lowest on record, but not
very much below that of 1948; the illegitimate birth and death rates were higher than usual.
The health of the people in the Borough depends upon the living conditions and the standard of the
health services. In estimating the extent in the improvement of the health of the people, we must take into
consideration what could be done as well as what has been done. In the last Annual Report it was shown
that many lives could have been saved if the conditions of living in many wards were raised to those of the
wards with the better rates. The improvement of the rates in all wards during the year must be measured
against what could have been achieved. It is true that there is usually an interval of time before improvements
in the health services and the living conditions cause reductions in the sickness and death rates.
Similarly, a deterioration in the living conditions and health services does not immediately produce an increase
in these rates. The increase in the tuberculosis case rate and the fall in the birth rate are warning signs that
the housing situation in the Borough may seriously affect the health of the people in the future, and the
effects of the rising costs of living on the nutrition of the people may be reflected in the rates in the next
few years.
There has been an improvement in the co-operation between the various health services in the Borough
during the year, but they will not be able to give their best work until there is one organisation set up to
administer all the health services in the area. The hospital and personal health services, in particular, suffer
because they have no intimate contact with the local organisations and, therefore, lack intimate knowledge of
local interest and needs; all the health services suffer from the restrictions which prevent their expansion to
satisfy the Borough's urgent health needs. Health services gain in vitality in an atmosphere of development
and expansion.
There has been a further expansion in the work of the local environmental health services, particularly
in the repair of houses, in the campaign for clean food, and in better health education. It is a pleasure to
record the growing interest that many councillors are taking in this important work.
I wish to thank all members of the staff, and particularly the sanitary inspectors and the members of
the Health Committee and Borough Council, for their share in the work of improving the health of the people
in Willesden during the year 1950.
I have the honour to be,
Your obedient servant,
S. LEFF,
Medical Officer of Health.