View report page

12
The following is a comparison with the rates for the
London area and. the whole of the country
England &
Wales.
12.9
London
County.
16.3
Bromley.
15.1
The main causes of deaths in the total for Bromley
were:-
Heart disease 170
Cancer 123
Violent causes 120
Respiratory (non-tuberculous) 93
Special attention must be called to three deaths
from Diphtheria out of 31 cases notified during the yeara
mortality of 9.7 per cent. These children were between
the ares of 2 and 5 years and had they been immunised their
lives might have been preserved.
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
A pleasing feature of the vital statistics for 1941
is the continuance of low infantile mortality figures.
There were 18 deaths of infants under one year compared
with 17 for the previous year. Thus the Infantile Mortality
Rate for 1941 is 28.9 per 1,000 live births, which compares
well with the record figure of 22.6 for 1940 and coincides
with the rate for 1939. A comparison with the rates of
the country as a whole and of London area is as follows
Engalnd &
& Wales.
59
London
County.
68
Bromley.
28
It can be said that 50 per cent of deaths occurring
during the first month of life are due to prematurity. A
feature of the Municipal Midwifery Service is concentration
on ante-natal care which cannot fail to exert an influence
on the prevention of premature births. The constantwork
of the Health Visitor in education on infant feeding and
management can be claimed to have played its part in
diminishing mortality from debility and marasmus. It is
ante-natal care, quality of help given at birth, and the
attention to infant feeding and management which have been
made prime factors by the Public Health. Service in recent
years in order to reduce infantile mortality to its present
low level.