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PREFACE
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have pleasure in submitting the Fifty-fifth Annual Report on the health
and sanitary conditions of the Borough of Woolwich.
The population of the Borough is now 148,500, a reduction of 1,200 compared
with the previous year.
The birth rate (13.2) has again fallen slightly apart from the year 1933, when
the birth rate was 12.7, the 1965 figure is the lowest ever recorded in the Borough.
The highest birth rate since the end of the last war was 22.8 in 1947. The adjusted
birth rate for Woolwich was 13.06, compared with 15.0 for England and Wales,
and 17.3 for London.
The adjusted Woolwich death rate was 10.2, compared with 11.7 for England
and Wales, and 10-8 for London.
The principal causes of death during the year were heart disease 452 ; cancer
311 ; bronchitis 106; pneumonia 98, and accidents (all forms) 48, of which 16
deaths were due to road accidents.
Falls among old people resulting in a broken leg are increasing. Three people
were involved in accidents with pedal cycles, receiving fatal injuries.
Of the total of 311 cancer deaths, 60 concerned men and 17 women with cancer
of the lung or bronchus.
There were 39 deaths of infants under one year, the same number as last year.
Premature birth and associated conditions were responsible for 16 of the deaths,
and broncho-pneumonia and bronchitis for 11 others.
With regard to infectious diseases, the most prominent experience during the
year was the outbreak of poliomyelitis, the worst in the history of the Borough.
Altogether 127 eases were confirmed, half of them being paralytic. There were
four deaths in this outbreak. There were nine cases where two members of the same
family were affected.
Whilst the seriousness of the effects of this disease must not be underestimated,
only one quarter of the confirmed cases had any serious paralysis, and many of
these have now made substantial recovery.
I should like to pay tribute to all concerned for their help and co-operation,
and particularly to the Brook Hospital, which bore the brunt of the cases, for their
ready acceptance of cases and the excellent treatment facilities afforded.
Both the Borough Council and the County Council continue to build much new
accommodation in the Borough. Altogether during 1955, 157 dwellings, either in
clearance areas or as individual unfit houses were represented to the Council as being
unfit. After five years' working the Council have substantially completed their
slum clearance programme formulated in 1950, and have now agreed to undertake
a heavy programme of clearance in the Borough during the next five years. Proposals
for the clearance and redevelopment of the Glyndon Road and Kirkham
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