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2.
To the MAY®, ALDERMEN and COUNCILLORS of the Borough of SHOREDITCH.
Your Worship, Ladias and Gentlemen,
The Borough's vital statistics for 1952 show steady progress in a
favourable direction as compared with the average of recent years, but no
outstanding change. For example, since 1951 the population has increased
by 790 to 45,800, though the number of inhabited houses has increased by only
6 7 despite the Borough's wonderful building record. The number of
births and stillbirths is within one, and the deaths 43 fewer compared
with last year. The infant mortality rate has reverted to its more
recent averages, and no mothers have died as a result of childbirth. The
deaths from tuberculosis were reduced from 16 to 14 (a low record), and
similarly there was a slight reduction in cancer deaths (except cancer
of lung, where deaths rose from 21 to 30).
Concurrent with this steady improvement in general vitality, the
morbidity figures showed also a slight improvement, in that there were
366 fewer notifications of infectious disease (chiefly due to reductions
in measles and dysentery), 12 fewer tuberculosis notifications, and only
one food poisoning notification.
As will be seen in the body of the report, the social welfare
services have still further expanded, and the Sanitary Inspectors have
put in another full year's work, so that we hope for further improvements
in the future, provided that no vitiating influences from outside, such as
last December's smoke-fog, interrupt this steady progress.
This modern truly black death descended on the Borough on Friday
December 5th, and was not lifted until Tuesday, December 9th. During
this week no fewer than one-sixth of the whole year's deaths from lung
diseases (Nos.22-25 in list of causes of death) occurred, to be followed
by another one-tenth of the year's total in the following week. This
represented a total eight times as large as the total occurring in the
corresponding two weeks of 1951. Fortunately, the weather conditions
leading to this holding down on the ground of the poisonous waste products
of imperfect combustion of fuel are not often so complete, but this is a
warning to all of us of the necessity for reducing the smoke from our
own fires as much as possible, by using smokeless fuel, gas or electricity,
rather than soft coal or "nutty slack", especially in foggy weather.
It is gratifying to note that the number of overcrowded families in
the Borough has been reduced to 260, and those on the medical preferential
treatment register are now only 81 in number.
It is also pleasing to see that, despite the use of improved methods
of baiting for rats, and despite the continued conscientiousness of our
excellent rodent staff, there has been a further decided reduction in the
number of rats killed, for we feel assured that this indicates a very