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CHIGWELL URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL
To the Chairman and Members of the
Chigwell Urban District Council.
THE CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I have pleasure in presenting to you the Annual Report including
the report of the Chief Public Health Inspector, for the
year ending 31st December, 1956.
Vital Statistics
The fall in the birth rate continued, and at 12.5 per thousand
of the population, the corrected rate was well below the
average for England and Wales (15.7).
No significant change occurred in the total (corrected) death
rate which, at 9.6 per thousand population compared well with
the national figure of 11.7 per thousand for a population of the
same age and sex distribution. Diseases of the heart and circulatory
system and cancer continued to be the main causes of
death.
Last year's exceptionally high death rate from cancer of the
lung and bronchus has not been repeated this year, so that on
average, the situation in the District appears to be no worse and
no better than in the country as a whole. At my request, the
Consultant Chest Physician at St. Margaret's Hospital, Dr. V. U.
Lutwyche. kindly provided all the available information on the
smoking habits of the twenty-five patients she has treated at
the hospital for lung cancer during the past two years, which
are tabulated as follows:—
Over 40 cigarettes daily 5
20—40 cigarettes daily 14
Approximately 15 cigarettes daily 2
1 oz. pipe tobacco daily 1
Non-smokers 0
No information available 3
25
Dr. Lutwvehe carefully emphasises that no firm conclusions
should be drawn from such a small number of cases, but I
personally consider it is highly significant that the close association
between heavy smoking and lung cancer reported in
many large national surveys should be so closely repeated
locally.
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