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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 Twenty-Seventh Annual
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich.
As in previous years the Report follows as to contents
and arrangement the outline indicated by the Ministry of
Health in Circular No. 834, in order to ensure uniformity in
the presentation of Annual Reports of Medical Officers of
Health throughout the country.
Accounts of the various services are given in detail in the
different sections of the report but it is usual to refer briefly
to a few aspects of the work here.
The chief vital statistics of the year are as follows : the
population was estimated by the Registrar General as 140,770
and, including military, 144,770. These figures somewhat
surprisingly show a decrease on those of the previous year,
and in part I. of the Annual Report this matter is fully discussed.
The birth rate, 15.9, is lower than in any previous
year ; the marriage rate, 13'9, also shows a decrease compared
with previous years ; the death rate, 10.6, although the lowest
in London, was slightly higher than in the previous year ;
the infantile mortality figure, 42, is the lowest yet recorded
in the annals of the Borough and is the second lowest in
London. On the whole, the vital and morbid statistics for
the year are satisfactory and show that the Borough maintains
its position as one of the healthiest in the metropolis.