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CHIGWELL URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL.
To the Chairman and Members of the
Chigwell Urban District Council.
MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I have pleasure in presenting to you the Annual Report
including the report of the Senior Sanitary Inspector, for the
year ending 31st December, 1953.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The birth rate, at 15.1 per 1,000 of the population, continues
to fall from its peak level of 17.7 per 1,000 (in 1949), though
the fall is now much more gradual.
Deaths, though numerically less than last year, are at a
higher rate per 1,000 of the population after correction is made
for age and sex differences between the population of this district
and that of England and Wales as a whole. It is only by
making such a correction, that a true comparison between the
Death Rate in the District and that in the whole country can
be made. The figure of 9.0 per 1,000 of the population (corrected
Death Rate) is thus strictly comparable with the Registrar
General's figure of 11.4 per 1,000 for England and Wales.
It has been most gratifying to see a substantial reduction
in the deaths of infants and in still-births. The very high standard
of ante-natal care and midwifery in the District can be deduced
by a comparison of the national Still Birth Rate (22.4 per 1,000
corresponding births) with our own (8.6) and the National
Infant Mortality Rate (26.8 per 1,000 live births) with our own
rate of 16.3. It is interesting to recall here that the average
annual rate of Infant Mortality in England and Wales during
the period 1936—40 was 55.3 per 1,000 live births.
On the other hand, there is a significant increase in deaths
attributed to pneumonia and bronchitis. How much this was
due to atmospheric pollution and how much to the influenza
outbreak of January—February, 1953, it is hard to say. In view
of the rapid increase in the use of Diesel engines on our roads
in recent years, it was somewhat disturbing to learn, as the result
of an enquiry made in November, 1953, that the Medical
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