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WANSTEAD AND WOODFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL.
TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS,
BOROUGH OF WANSTEAD AND WOODFORD.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report on the Health Services
in the Borough for the year 1950. I have made reference in this report
to the personal health services under Part III of the National Health Service
Act administered by the Essex County Council and decentralised to the
Forest Health Area Sub-Committee of the County Health Committee.
Particulars of the working in the Borough of the School Medical Service
have also been given; this service is administered by the Essex County
Council through the Forest Divisional Executive. Acting in a three-fold
capacity as Medical Officer of Health for the Borough, Area Medical Officer
for the forest Health Area and Divisional School Medical Officer for the
Forest Divisional Executive I am fortunate in being in control of all three
branches of the preventive health services as they affect the Borough.
Vital Statistics show the health of persons residing in Wanstead
and Woodford to be well above the average for England and Wales. The
total number of live births for the year was 847, this figure being almost
identical with that of the previous year, which was 839. The number of
deaths occurring in 1950 was 605, this figure being 82 less than that of
1949, which was 687. Comparing these figures with the corresponding
figures for England and Wales, we find that the birth rate for Wanstead
and Woodford is 13.5 per 1,000 of the estimated population as contrasted
with 15.8 for the whole of England and Wales. Comparative death rates
are 9.6 per 1,000 of population for Wanstead and Woodford and 11.6 for
the country as a whole. The Infant Mortality Rate, i.e., the death rate of
infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births, may be regarded as an
index of the health of the population and it is very gratifying to be able to
record that this rate has reached the lowest figure on record for the Borough,
18.9 compared with 29.8 for England and Wales.
Infectious Disease. It is pleasing to note that, for the second
successive year, no case of diphtheria occurred. This is undoubtedly due
to the success of our immunisation campaign. Despite the absence of
diphtheria during the year there are no grounds for complacency and it is
somewhat disconcerting to note that the number of children under five who
were immunised during the year was only 641, a reduction of 204 from the
previous year, the number of children born in both years being approximately
similar. This is due to the fact that, during the months of August
and September when poliomyelitis was prevalent, immunisation against
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