View report page

To His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors
of the County Borough of East Ham.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to submit the Annual Report upon the health and
sanitary condition of the Borough for the year 1926, together with
my report as School Medical Officer.
The death rate shows a further reduction, from 10'6 in 1925,
to 9.6 in 1926, whilst the rate of infant mortality (56 per 1,000
registered births) is still satisfactory.
It should not be assumed from these figures that all is well in
the Borough, as the housing conditions are still far from being
satisfactory..
The birth rate still shows a further decline, being 17.1 per
1,000 of estimated population as compared with 17.3 in 1925 and
20.3 in 1921.
The Maternity and Child Welfare Department still continues
to do excellent work, as will be seen by the record of attendances
at the various infant welfare clinics, but is still handicapped by
under-staffing of Health Visitors.
The School Medical Service also still carries out its duties
in a most satisfactory manner, but I would remind the Council that
defects are found at the medical inspection of entrants which
might have been prevented if the staff of Health Visitors was
sufficient to supervise the children up to school age.
Again I beg to call attention to the scandalous overcrowding
on the District Railway during the early morning and evening.
Adequate means of transit are not available during these hours,
and during epidemics, such as Influenza, this overcrowding is a
menace to the inhabitants of the Borough as a means of spread
of infection.