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18
Infant Mortality
During the year, 38 (22 male and 16 female) infants living in the
district, or born to mothers ordinarily resident here, died under one year
of age. This was an increase of five on the figure for 1965 and with 3,161
live births gives an infant mortality rate of 12.0 as compared with that
of 10.0 in 1965. The rate for England and Wales was 19.0.
Twenty-seven, or approximately seventy per cent of these infant deaths
occurred during the first four weeks of life, giving a neo-natal mortality
rate of 8.6 per thousand live births. Twenty-one of these neo-natal deaths
occurred during the first week of life, prematurity being the main cause
of death. These early neo-natal deaths, combined with the still births give
a peri-natal mortality rate of 22.5 per thousand live and still births
compared with a rate of 19-4 for 1965.
Maternal Mortality
No deaths occurred during 1966 due to causes associated with
pregnancy and childbirth.
Deaths
The total number of deaths of residents of the Borough was 2,034,
giving a death rate of 9.7 per 1,000 population. Liability to death varies
at different ages and also between the sexes. Accordingly, to offset the
effect 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 9.7, gives an adjusted death rate
of 10-2, which then compares with the death rate of 11.7 per 1,000 population
for England and Wales. The main causes of death were as follows:—
1. Diseases of the circulatory system 755
2. Cancer 457
3. Vascular diseases of the central nervous system 265
843 deaths registered were of people over 75 years of age, i.e. 41 % of
the total deaths registered in the district.
Deaths from Cancer
In 1966 the number of deaths from cancer was 250 males and 207
females. Deaths from lung cancer decreased by 22 to a total of 133 for
the year, or a rate per 100,000 of 63.73. Seventy-two per cent of these
deaths occurred in the age group 55-75 years. Measures to bring the
association of cigarette smoking with lung cancer to the attention of the
public continued during the year.