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 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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The new Regulations no longer require a Medical Officer of Health to keep
a register of tuberculosis notifications, but, in the Minister's view, he may naturally
be expected to do so—and the Minister urges that he should—in the same way
that he keeps a record, for his own purposes and without any legal requirements,
of notifications of other diseases.
The requirement contained in the 1930 Regulations for providing information
of a tuberculous patient entering or leaving a sanatorium or hospital is also omitted
from the present regulations. However, the Minister has asked Hospital Boards
and Committees to ensure that this information (as for any patient with a notifiable
disease) is sent by the institution concerned to the Medical Officer of Health of
the district to which the patient belongs.
During the last decade there has been a considerable reduction in the Tuberculosis
mortality rate. The following table shows the incidence of Tuberculosis
and the decline in the number of deaths from this disease during the last 12 years.
| Year. | Estimated Civilian Population excluding Army. | Primary Notifications | Deaths from Tuberculosis. | Deaths per 1,000 population. | Total Deaths all causes. | Percentage of Tuberculosis Deaths against all Deaths. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 103,630 | 258 | 127 | 1.22 | 1,627 | 7.8 |
| 1942 | 110,140 | 249 | 102 | .92 | 1,410 | 7.2 |
| 1943 | 112,700 | 292 | 102 | .90 | 1,558 | 6.5 |
| 1944 | 110,970 | 248 | 100 | .90 | 1,611 | 6.2 |
| 1945 | 115,270 | 260 | 90 | .70 | 1,478 | 6.0 |
| 1946 . | 134,420 | 247 | 83 | .61 | 1,531 | 5.4 |
| 1947 | 140,150 | 297 | 101 | .72 | 1,626 | 6.2 |
| 1948 | 142,800 | 230 | 82 | .57 | 1,573 | 5.2 |
| 1949 | 144,000 | 256 | 59 | .41 | 1,572 | 3.7 |
| 1950 | 144,000 | 205 | 58 | .40 | 1,670 | 3.4 |
| 1951 | 144,000 | 246 | 57 | .39 | 1,838 | 3.1 |
| 1952 | 146,000 | 195 | 39 | .26 | 1,667 | 2.3 |
Mass Radiography.
The Mass Radiography Unit of the South Eastern Regional Hospital Board
visited the Borough during the whole of May and during the visit a total of 19,404
persons attended for X-ray examination. This total is 3,405 more than were
examined on the occasion of the previous visit of the Unit, and those X-rayed
included 422 men and 54 women employed by the Borough Council. Details of
the total examinations made are as follows:—
Centre Men Women Total
Old Town Hall 5,167 7,050 12,217
Royal Arsenal 5,898 1,289 7,187
11,065 8,339 19,404
With regard to the examinations at the Old Town Hall only 207 women
were recalled for further examination, and of these, 61 showed no abnormality and
51 required no further action. 167 men were recalled for further examination and
42 showed no abnormality, whilst 50 others required no further action.
As on the occasion of previous visits of the Unit, the Health Department
assisted by arranging a large number of bookings. As part of the Council's Health
Education work, films dealing with Mass X-Ray were shown to local organisations
during the weeks preceding the visit of the Mass X-Ray Unit.
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