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14
Still Births
41 still births were registered during the year, giving a still birth rate
of 12.1 per 1,000 total births, which compares very favourably with the
rate of 16.3 for the country as a whole.
Infant Mortality
Last year, 41 (24 male and 17 female) infants living in the district,
or born to mothers ordinarily resident here, died under one year of age.
This was a fall of eleven on the figure for 1963 and with 3,351 live births
gives an infant mortality rate of 12.2 as compared with that of 16.3 in
1963. The rate for England and Wales was 20.0.
27, or approximately 65% of these infant deaths occurred during the
first four weeks of life, giving a neo-natal mortality rate of 81 per 1,000
live births. 26 of these neo-natal deaths occurred during the first week
of life, with congenital malformations and prematurity featuring as the
cause of death. These early neo-natal deaths combined with the still
births give a peri-natal mortality rate of 19.8 per 1,000 live and still
births as compared with a rate of 27.4 for 1963.
Maternal Mortality
No deaths occurred during 1964 due to causes associated with
pregnancy and child birth.
Deaths
The total number of deaths of residents of the Borough was 1,946
giving a death rate of 9.3 per 1,000 population. Liability to death varies
at different ages and also between the sexes. Accordingly, to offset the
effects of these variations and so produce a rate which can be used for
comparison purposes with other districts in the country as a whole, the
Registrar General calculates for each district a comparability factor
which, when applied to the crude death rate of 9.3, gives an adjusted
death rate of 10.0, which then compares with the death rate of 11.3 per
1,000 population for England and Wales. Again, the main causes or
deaths were as follows: —
1. Diseases of the circulatory system 1,727
2. Cancer 471
3. Vascular diseases of the central nervous system 217
815 deaths registered were of people over 75 years of age, that is
41 % of the total deaths registered in the district.
Deaths from Cancer
In 1964, the number of deaths from cancer was 263 males and
208 females. Deaths from lung cancer increased by 23 to a total of 132
for the year or a rate per 100,000 of 62.73. Health education featuring
anti-smoking propaganda directed mainly at the younger age group
continued during the year. The actual effect is difficult to gauge but