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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 1955. As previously, a section
of the report is devoted to those personal health services under the
National Health Service Act which are administered by the Essex
County Council. A brief outline of the School Health Service is
given.
Vital Statistics
The total number of live births for the year was 694, 9 fewer
than in the previous year. The Birth Rate per 1,000 of the population
was 11.4, a figure almost identical with that of 1954. The figure for
England and Wales as a whole is 15.3.
The total number of deaths was 649, an increase of 39 over the
figure for the previous year. Death Rate per 1,000 is 9.7 comparing
with 11.7 for England and Wales.
Although slightly higher than last year the Infant Mortality
Rate (number of deaths under 1 year per 1,000 live births) reached
the comparatively low figure of 17.3 contrasting with a figure of 24.9
for the whole country.
Causes of Death
As formerly the main causes of death were diseases of the heart
and arteries, and cancer. However, as will be seen in the table under
Section A of the report, the deaths from cancer fell from 135 to 119,
this figure being the lowest recorded during the past 6 years.
Infectious Disease
By far the largest notifications were in respect of measles, 938
cases being recorded. Almost all were extremely mild. The incidence
of whooping cough was small.
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