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7
Preface
Phone:- PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICES.
VALentine 3401 ILFORD.
July. 1961.
MR. MAYOR. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I submit herewith the Annual Report of the Health
Services for the year 1960.
The health of the borough is maintained at a high
level; the adjusted death rate of 11. 26 compares with 11. 29
in the previous year. As I do not wish to repeat tediously in
detail what I have mentioned in many previous reports,
briefly infectious diseases present no real problem to us now
whereas cancer, especially of the lung, coronary heart disease,
bronchitis, mental disorders, accidents, suicide,
remain substantial and unconquered problems.
The birth rate is rising, being 14. 07 in 1960 (compared
with 12.41 in 1959); 296 more births were registered
in the borough than in the previous year.
INFANT MORTALITY.
It could hardly be hoped that the previous year's extraordinarily
low Infant Mortality Rate of 14.9 deaths per
1,000 births could be maintained. The Infant Mortality Rate
rose in 1960 to 17.5, still considerably under the national
average of 21.9. Further study shows that in 1959 there
were 33 deaths and in 1960, 44. In each year only 6 of these
deaths occurred after the age of one month, i.e. the increase
was entirely in neonatal mortality, and could be accounted
for by atelectasis 5 and 9, prematurity 5 and 7, and
''previability" 0 and 6 (1959 figures followed by 1960). This
is in general agreement with current experience that prevention
of neonatal mortality is a far more difficult problem
than infant mortality in later months, once due mainly to