London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Woolwich 1903
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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106. The following table shews the death rate from alcoholism, and cirrhosis of the liver, in the past three years, in various divisions of the Borough compared with London.
| 1901. | 1902. | 1903. | Public Houses per cent. of total houses. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Borough | 0.44 | 0.32 | 0.34 | 1.0 |
| Woolwich Parish | 0.74 | 0.61 | 0.41 | 2.0 |
| River Ward | 1.10 | 0.86 | 0.53 | 2.8 |
| „ South | — | 0.94 | 0.70 | 2.9 |
| Plumstead Parish | 0.27 | 0.19 | 0.35 | 0.5 |
| St. Nicholas Ward | 0.49 | 0.17 | 0.26 | 0.2 |
| Eltham | 0.25 | Nil | Nil | 0.6 |
| London County | — | 0.31 | — | — |
The above table shews that to a large extent the mortality
from alcoholism is proportional to the number of public houses.
In my last annual report, the death rate of the population
living in 24 public houses in the River Ward was shown to be
29.3 (twice that of the Borough) and the Phthisis death rate
5.3 (about thrice that of the Borough). See p. 43, A.R. 1903.
Syphilis.
107. Fourteen deaths were certified to be from Syphilis, 8
being under one year of age. Five of the deaths occurred in
the Infirmary, and 4 in outlying hospitals, thus two thirds of
these deaths occurred in public charitable institutions. It is
not to be understood that this represents the real facts of the
case, but it means that private medical practitioners are
unwilling to state on a death certificate a cause which would
perhaps be an impeachment of the character of the person to
whom it was given, or if not of his own, perhaps of his friend's
character. No doubt the real number of deaths from Syphilis,