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5
TO THE MAYOR ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS OF
THE BOROUGH OF WALTHAMSTOW
MR. MAYOR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I have the honour to present herewith my Annual Report for
1960. As is customary, it includes an account of the services
administered by the Walthamstow Health Area Sub-Committee on
behalf of the Essex County Council.
VITAL STATISTICS
Judged by the simple yard sticks of Infant Mortality, Birth
and Death Rates and overall incidence of Infectious Diseases
compared with other years and with the rest of the country, the
medico social state of our community appears to be satisfactory,
but closer analysis reveals a few disquieting aspects.
Although the excess of births over deaths was about 200,
yet the Registrar General's estimate of the mid year population
showed a decrease of 1,390. This is due entirely to a fairly
substantial migration from the borough. This trend is not new
and will probably continue until a balance is achieved between
population and housing accommodation. The mere loss of
population is not in itself a cause for regret if what it
achieves is a better standard of accommodation for those that
remain. But unfortunately it is the younger people, in the
reproductive age groups, that are moving out, leaving a
disproportionate number of the elderly who are less able to
sustain the demands of a modern community. There will also be
a tendency for the birth rate to fall, although it has remained
about the same for the past few years.
A study of the causes of death show a steady decline in
the communicable diseases and a tendency to an increase in
those caused by diseases of the heart and blood vessels and
malignant growths. Even deaths due to accidents in the home
and on the street now far outstrip those of infectious diseases.
Of particular interest to us is the steadily increasing
deaths from cancer of the lung as opposed to the levelling out
of the numbers of deaths due to other cancers. More than half
the 67 cases in Walthamstow occurred in the age group 45-64yrs,
Research carried out for many years into this phenomenon has
shown that the liability to lung cancer in a heavy smoker is
forty times greater than that in a non-smoker, and the greater
the number of cigarettes smoked the greater the risk. Even
giving up smoking lessens the risk. Apparently cigarettes are
implicated more than pipes or cigars. Since the war women have