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105
The figures of the deaths from cancer are now consistently higher
than they were before the war. This again is a reflection of the changing
age structure of the population. While malignant growths can occur at
almost all ages, cancer typically attacks the middle-aged. A population
with a disproportionate amount of young people would have relatively
fewer persons who had reached these susceptible ages. That was the
position in this district before the war. With a local population
now of more usual age distribution, the number of deaths from cancer
can be expected to rise—and to increase above the present figures. In
1957, the cancer death rate per thousand population in the country as a
whole was 21. For this district in 1958 it was 2-0.
Neither the figures for suicide nor deaths from violence call for
comment, as although they fluctuate, they show no significant trend up or
down.
The story of most of the infections in the last five years merely
continues that of the previous twenty. Scarlet fever has in these years
been on the whole of low incidence, the highest number of notifications
being 209 in 1954. On no occasion in this period has there been any
indication of a trend to the development of such a high incidence as the
621 cases in 1934 or the 707 in 1943. At the same time, it has continued
to remain typically a mild complaint, so that over these five years it has
not been a factor of public health significance. On the contrary, measles
which up to this has never established its biennial beat in this district as
it has in other urban areas was in one of the last five years at its greatest
incidence with 3,024 notifications in 1955. Against this has been the
continuing mildness in character of the complaint ; coupled with improved
therapeusis the result is that even from the large number of cases there
have been very few fatalities. Whooping cough, possibly because of the
extent to which the child population has been inoculated, has in none of
the last five years been very prevalent, and has been sufficiently mild to
have caused no deaths. The setback to the position in regard to tuberculosis
in the country as a whole during the war years was continued into
the years after the war. The improvement which later came about was
seen first in the reduced number of deaths. Another few years were to
pass before the improvement was reflected in the diminishing numbers of
notifications of new cases. That position has now been reached and a
steady fall can be looked forward to. In regard to deaths, the average
number of 13 for the last four years is a marked contrast to the figures of
over 100 during the war years and of 96 even in 1938. These last few
years have seen the introduction of B.C.G. which, added in post war
years to the other weapons to attack this complaint, mass radiography
and chemotherapy, should do much to remove this disease from being
°ne of importance to those in the health services.
The local position in regard to poliomyelitis is each year a reflection
0 what occurs in the country as a whole. Since 1947 when it was first
subjected to a nation wide attack, the country has never been wholly
,ree 'rom the infection. The incidence of any one year seems to be largely
ependent on the weather in the Summer months, the summers with the