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Public Health Department,
Elmfield House,
High Street,
Teddington.
To the MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS
of the BOROUGH OP TWICKENHAM.
Ladies, and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report on the public
health and sanitary condition of the Borough during the year ending
3lst December, 1944. The report is again condensed for economy of
paper, and again certain tables and figures have been omitted.
The year will always be remembered on account of the dislocation of
living conditions from the flying bombs. The Borough suffered
heavily during the second half of the year. A great many houses
were destroyed and hardly a street in the Borough remained undamaged.
Large movements of the population took place through official and
unofficial evacuation and.,rehousing. The strain on the Department
was very heavy, many members of the staff doing their ordinary duty
during the day and duty at the Control Centre and First Aid Posts at
night. In spite of the dislocation, the ordinary Health and
Maternity and Child Welfare Services were maintained at. a high
standard.
The death rate of infants under one year of age is a good
indication of the conditions of life in the town. In 1944 it was
37.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is the lowest figure since
1939. The rate for England and Wales was 46 If we can reduce this
infantile mortality rate still more we will be approaching the figure
achieved by some American towns which we have envied for a number of
years. In this Borough congenital malformations arid premature births
accounted for a rate of 29.2 deaths per l,000 live births. Premature
birth is to a great extent dependent upon the health of the mother
during pregnaney and reduction in the rate of premature births will
depend on further efforts to improve the health of expectant mothers.
Improved moans of saving the lives of premature infants have been
introduced by the provision of specially designed electrically heated
cots and ancillary apparatus. The cots are loaned out to homes or
institutions requiring them for the use of premature infants and already
o number of infants have been saved who might otherwise have died.
The general death rate per thousand of the population was
12,8 coipared with 11.6 for England and Wales for that year, but this
figure is still above the best figure for the Borough of 9.81 in 1938.
Deaths from enemy action contributed to the increase. Deaths from
influenza were increased, but deaths from cancer fell from 220 in 1943
to 169 in 1944. ' '
The birth rate in 1944 rose to 18.5½ of the estimated resident
population which is a record for the enlarged Borough. The
illegitimate births rose still higher from 103 in 1943 to 138 in 1944.
For unmarried mothers the maternity and child welfare services have done
magnificent work in arranging for pre-natal care and hostel accommodation
arranging for confinements and post-natal accommodation, finding suitable
employment, arranging for the care of the infants, assisting with
affiliation orders, adoptions, foster homes and in many other ways.
The mortality of illegitimate infants, generally very high, fell to
45.48 which represents a remarkable improvement. There was not a
single maternity death during the whole year giving a nil rate which is
a rocord.
There was again a very low incidence in the Borough of coses
of diphtheria (5) as compared with 70 in 1938, 34 in 1939, and 18 in
1940. The immunisation scheme suffered during the flying bomb
period so that only 1153 children were dealt with compared with 2,221
in the previous year.
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