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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 Fiftieth Annual Report on the health of the
Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich. The Report is prepared along the lines indicated
by the Minister of Health. The general standard of the health of the
Borough during the year may be regarded as satisfactory.
The Registrar-General's estimate of the population in mid-1950 was 149,000
(Home Population). This figure is the number of civilians resident in the Borough
(144,000) plus members of the Armed Forces stationed in the Borough, estimated
to be approximately 5,000.
The vital statistics for 1950 and for future years must be calculated on the
Home Population, so that in the case of the birth and death rates it is not possible
to present a just comparison with the rates for the last few years, which were calculated
on the civilian population.
Compared with the previous year there was an increase of 96 in the total
number of deaths, due mainly to an increase of 65 in the number of deaths from
heart disease. There were 13 deaths from road accidents, against six in 1949.
Heart diseases account for nearly a quarter of the total deaths in the Borough,
whilst one in every five deaths is attributable to cancer. Cancer is mainly a disease
of the elderly and the general ageing of the population explains much of this increase.
Again, improved medical diagnosis accounts for some increase. But this
is not the whole story and it seems that there must be a genuine, if small, increased
incidence of the disease. It is to be hoped that medical science will now soon find
the solution to the cancer problem. In the meantime, diagnosis and treatment at
the earliest possible moment is the main safeguard.
The infant death rate, i.e., the number of deaths of children under one year
for each 1,000 births, is now 24.4, which is easily the lowest on record in Woolwich.
There were only 53 deaths of children under one year, being 18 fewer than the previous
lowest total in 1942. A large proportion of these deaths occurred in children under
one week. From the table in the body of the Report showing the chief vital statistics
for the Borough since 1921, it will be seen that in that year there were 197 infant
deaths. The number has steadily declined, but even twelve years ago there were
103 infant deaths. During the last fifty years, the Borough's infant death rate
has been consistently below the rate for London and that for England and Wales.
With regard to infectious disease, due to a reduction in the number of measles'
notifications in 1950, total notifications were 1,791, being 1,300 fewer than in 1949.
It is a pleasure to record that for the first time in the history of the Borough,
there were no confirmed cases of diphtheria. When it is recalled that as recently
as 1939 there were more than 500 confirmed cases in Woolwich alone in that year,
those concerned with the diphtheria immunisation campaign may take just pride
in this achievement. The Borough Council has long been active in campaigning
for the immunisation of all young children, and there is no doubt that the work
carried out in this field before and during the war years is reaping rich benefits.
An outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred during the summer and autumn of 1950
and there was a high incidence of cases in the Borough. There were 52 confirmed
notifications, compared with 25 in 1949 and 23 in the 1947 outbreak. Fortunately,
the proportion of fatal cases was again extremely low—only one death being due
to poliomyelitis and one to polioencephalitis. In the great majority of the cases
there was either little or no paralysis.
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