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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
Wood Green, N. 22.
July, 1961.
To THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN and COUNCILLORS
Of the BOROUGH OP WOOD GREEN.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present my Annual Report for 1960.
The year 1960 was a placid year with few, if any, highlights
so far as infectious diseases were concerned. The total number
of cases notified during the year again fell - from 360 in 1959
to 229 in 1960 - one of the lowest totals yet recorded in the
Borough. This, of course, was mainly due to the lowest number
of measles cases known to have been recorded, there being only
21 cases notified compared with 169 during the previous year. It
is most satisfactory to be able to record a year in which infectious
diseases played such a minor part in the life of the community.
These matters will be referred to in greater detail in
the body of the report.
As I have commented before, however, epidemiology is no
longer concerned merely with infectious diseases but embraces any
condition or number of conditions prejudicial to health or, to
put this in another way, conditions which are capable of causing
impaired health or actual disease. Generally speaking,Wood Green
is extremely fortunate in its character and amenities It is still
our duty nevertheless to make a careful search for any conditions
hidden or disclosed,which are detrimental to the health and wellbeing
of the community. I need scarcely emphasise, however, that
it is infinitely easier to prevent the setting up of such conditions
than to remove them once they have become established. For
this reason I have pursued a policy of bringing before the Health
and Cleansing Committee all matters affecting the health of the
Borough. In this connection I count myself extremely fortunate
that the Health Committee has always studied my statements or
reports with the care which one has come to expect from the Wood
Green Borough Council. I think it is true to say that, unless
the Health and Cleansing Committee can be supplied with the
fullest information, the Medical Officer of Health cannot expect
that constant support without which success can never be attained.
The vital statistics for the year are also satisfactory. The
birth rate of 15.2 again showed an increase over the rate of 1959
(14.2), 724 live births being registered as compared with 676 in
1959. This represents the highest number of live births since
1949. The rate for the County (15.7) is the highest since 1949
but is still lower than that for the country as a whole (17.1).
The death rate has again fallen, from 12.4 in 1959 to 11.5. The
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