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BOROUGH OF BRENTFORD AND CHISWICK
Public Health Department,
Town Hall, Ghiswick, 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 24th Annual Report on the
Health and Sanitary circumstances of the population of the Borough
of Brentford and Ghiswick.
The health of the people continued to be good.
The birth rate fell from 14.82 in 1950 to 14.61 in 1951. This
figure has continued to fall since 1946 and is this year again lower
than the average for the whole of England and Wales, which is 15.5.
The death rate rose from 11.75 1950 to 12.49 in 1951. The
corresponding national figure is 12. 5.
The number of infant deaths occurring in 1951 was 26, six more
than occurred in 1950. This increase, however, was not unduly
alarming as death from congenital malformation accounted for ten as
compared with three in 1950, and these deaths do not come into the
category of preventable occurrences.
Apart from the heavy incidence of measles in the early part of
the year, the number of notifications of infectious disease was
comparatively small. In my Report special mention is made of the
threat of epidemic influenza which fortunately did not materialize,
and it is very pleasant to be able to record that no case of
poliomyelitis occurred in Brentford and Ghiswick.
The notifications of new cases of tuberculosis and the number
of deaths from that disease were both less than in 1950, and whilst
one year's figures are not an indication that any great improvement
in the control of this disease has been obtained, the figures are
encouraging. The expected visit of the Mass X-ray Unit to the
Borough in 1952 is welcomed as a means of diagnosing early cases
among factory workers and the general public, so that if any persons
should be found to have suspicious symptoms, treatment can be
started at a time when it is most likely to succeed in eradicating
the disease from those persons affected.
Health propaganda was continued throughout the year and
included poster displays, addresses to meetings, personal talks on
food hygiene to canteen workers and staffs of catering
establishments, and a special showing of films on the handling of
food to workers in the food industry.
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