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15
mation regarding any abnormality could be included on the one form.
This material will be collated by the Registrar General and help to give
further useful information on rates of incidence for various abnormalities.
Maternal Mortality.
No deaths occurred during 1963 due to causes associated with
pregnancy and child birth.
Deaths.
The total number of deaths of residents of the Borough was 2,171,
giving a death rate of 10.4 per 1,000 population. Liability to death varies
at different ages and also between the sexes. In order to offset the effects of
these variations and so produce a rate which can be used for comparison
purposes with other districts and the country as a whole, the RegistrarGeneral
calculates for each district a comparability factor which when
applied to the crude death rate of 10.4 gives an adjusted death rate of 11.2,
which then compares with a death rate of 12.2 per 1,000 population for
England and Wales. Comparison of the Registrar-General's abridged list
of causes of death in the district for 1962 with the list for 1963 shows
little change in the chief causes of death. These are:—
1. Diseases of the circulatory system 851 deaths
2. Cancer 461 deaths
3. Vascular diseases of the central nervous system 284 deaths
Nine hundred and forty-one deaths registered were of people over
75 years of age, i.e. 48 per cent of the total deaths registered in the district.
Deaths from Cancer.
In 1963 the number of deaths from cancer was 232 males and 229
females. Of deaths from this cause in males, in 92 the site was the lungs.
in 32 the stomach. Of deaths amongst females, the breast was the site in 51,
the stomach in 21 and the lung in 17 and the uterus in 16.
Deaths from lung cancer show a small but nevertheless very welcome
drop of 24 to a figure of 103 for 1963, as compared with 133 for 1962 or a
rate for 100,000 population of 52 07 and 68-22 respectively. Whereas
this fall in incidence seems satisfactory on first examination, one must
warn against placing too much significance in the figures as between one
year and another. Yearly changes do occur but the figures must be studied
over a period of years before arriving at conclusions telative to the trend
in a specified disease. Measures to bring the association of cigarette smoking
with lung cancer to the attention of the public continued during the year.
Deaths from Accidents.
Motor vehicle and other accidents caused the deaths of 54 Harrow
residents during 1963. In the classification of other accidents 43 per cent
of the death occurred in the 75 years and over age group. Many of these
deaths are due to accidents in the home which should be preventable.
every opportunity is taken by all members of the department in advising
the elderly and indeed all members of the public on measures to promote
safety in the home.