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8
PREFACE.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit the Twentieth Annual Report
on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich.
The report follows the lines laid down by the Ministry of
Health, in order to ensure uniformity in the Annual Reports
of Medical Officers of Health throughout the country. It
shews in statistical form the various factors bearing on the
health of the Borough, the efforts which have been made by
the Council to promote the general health of individuals and
of the community as a whole, and the various measures taken
for improving conditions both from the personal and the
environmental standpoint.
The main vital statistics relating to the year are as follows
The population of the Borough has increased by 5,909; the
birth rate (24.7) is the highest recorded since 1908, and the
actual number of births recorded has only been exceeded on
two occasions since 1901; the marriage rate (17.5) shews a
decrease compared with previous years; the death rate (10.5)
and the infantile mortality rate (61 per 1,000 births) are the
lowest ever recorded in the history of the Borough.
It may be useful to draw attention to the great changes
which are taking place in public health work. The Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, dealt mainly with the conditions