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7
COUNTY BOROUGH OF EAST HAM
Public Health Department,
Town Hall Annexe, E.6.
September, 1948.
To the Worshipful the Mayor, the Aldermen and
Councillors of the County Borough of East Ham.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report as Medical
Officer of Health and School Medical Officer for the year 1947.
The statistical section of the report indicates the measure of
the continued success of the health services of the borough.
My report for the year 1946 made reference to the steady
increase in population: this trend persists, and the RegistrarGeneral's
estimate for the midyear is 118,670.
The birth rate is maintained at the record high figure of 23.8
per 1,000 population (22.69 in 1946) and the infantile mortality
rate 30 per 1,000 is similar to that of last year, which was the
lowest in the history of the borough and again compares favourably
with that for England and Wales as a whole, namely, 41 per 1,000.
The maternal mortality rate is still further reduced to 0.69
per 1,000 live and still births. This extremely low figure (England
and Wales 1.17) especially when taken in conjunction with the fact
that 2,835 babies have been born in the borough, is a sure index
of the excellence of the maternity service provided by the Council.
Reference must be made to the standard of health achieved
in those large sections of the community under our surveillance
which reflects credit upon the clinic and institutional services and
the administration of the health department.
In regard to infectious disease, no serious epidemic has occurred
but stress must be laid on sporadic outbreaks of diphtheria, the
incidence of which could be entirely eliminated by the acceptance
of immunisation for every child at one year of age and a subsequent
boosting injection on entering school. The outbreaks could be
attributable in most cases to the onset of the disease in unimmunised
children.
In spite of the heavy incidence of poliomyelitis throughout
the country, only eight confirmed cases—with two deaths—
occurred in this thickly populated area. Every suspected case