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5
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
To His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of
Harrow.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1 beg to submit the Annual Report on the Health and Sanitary
Circumstances of the District for the year 1957.
At intervals this report deals in detail with the local services and
sometimes the Minister asks for special reference to be made to certain
subjects. The report which gave these full particulars was that of 1954.
This report is of an interim character, detailed reference being made only
to those subjects which were of special interest during the year.
1957 was in general a healthy year. The two complaints which these
days fluctuate so much in incidence were not very serious, the incidence
of poliomyelitis being relatively light and the outbreak of influenza which
occurred towards the end of the year was mild. On top of that the
weather in the colder months of the year was not particularly harsh.
The 39 infant deaths yielded an infant mortality rate of only 14 0, a
figure so very much less than the national rate of 23 even though this
was the lowest rate ever recorded for the country as a whole. What is
so striking about those infant deaths is that of the 27 deaths amongst
those who failed to reach one month of age only three occurred amongst
babies who had been born in the district. All the others died in the
institutions outside the district in which their mothers had been confined.
Once more measles and whooping cough caused no deaths. The
incidence of scarlet fever was light and there were again no fatalities
amongst the sufferers. There were no cases of diphtheria, this being the
seventh consecutive year the district has been free from this. Once more
it is possible to record a fall in the number of notifications of persons
suffering from tuberculosis, a fall in the number of deaths from this
disease and for the very first time a fall in the numbers of those on the
tuberculosis register.
The fourth chapter starting on page 44 deals especially with the work
ot the Public Health Inspectors. Although the pattern of this work is
changing and these days they spend less of their time in bringing about
an alleviation of unsatisfactory conditions, a very important part of their
duties still is to keep an eye on those matters which without such attention
are liable to deteriorate. In this last year, during which there has been a
shortage of staff, there have been indications of a lowering of the standard
at some premises. That there should have been this deterioration in the
condition of the yards of shops and even at some food establishments
only emphasises the importance of the inspectors' routine work, work
which is carried out unspectacularly and probably without the knowledge
ot most ratepayers. As long as there is this difficulty of getting through
[ns work, it is not possible to break fresh ground in such matters as
e clean air campaign, at least until there is a falling off in the volume
o work in connection with the issue of certificates of disrepair under the
Rent Act.