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BOROUGH OF BRENTFORD AND CHISWICK
Public Health Department,
Town Hall, Chiswick, W.4.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of
the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the 23rd Annual Report on the
Health and Sanitary circumstances of the population of the Borough
of Brentford and Chiswick.
The health of the people continued to be good.
The birth rate fell from 16.19 in 1949 to 14.82 in 1950. This
figure has continued to fall since 1946 and is this year lower than
the average for the whole of England and Wales, which is 15.8.
t
The death rate rose from 10.98 in 1949 to 11.75 in 1950. The
principal increase during this year appears to be in deaths from
circulatory diseases. The corresponding national figure was 11.6.
The infant mortality rate which has been falling since 1947
showed a drop from 23.78 in 1949 to 22.37 in 1950 and is the lowest
infant mortality rate ever recorded in this Borough. Graph A in the
text shows in pictorial form the dramatic fall in this rate during
the last 50 years.
The figures for tuberculosis do not give rise to so much
satisfaction however. While the number of new notifications has
dropped from 110 to 108, the number of deaths occurring during the
year has risen from 25 in 1949 to 34 in 1950. In 6 cases the
disease had not been notified before death and it is possible that
these patients did not seek advice with regard to their health until
it was too late for curative treatment to be of any effect. Of the
34 deaths 14 were aged over 55 and 3 had reached the age of 70 or
over. Of these 5 had been suffering from the disease for periods of
from 6 to 20 years. Reference to the text will show an analysis of
the new notifications of 1950 in occupations and with regard to
housing conditions and overcrowding in the homes of the patients.
Neither overcrowding nor any single type of occupation can be seen
as a predominating factor in the incidenc e of new cases of
tuberculosis during this year although statistical conclusions cannot
be fairly drawn on one year's figure analysis. More intensive
work is being carried out in the department in order to obtain more
information with regard to the occurrence of multiple cases in
individual premises and it is hoped that fuller information with
regard to this matter may be available for next year's Annual Report.
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