London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Sutton 1965
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Sutton]
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(h) Suicide
| Male | Female | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suicide rate per 1,000 deaths | 4.28 | 10.22 | 7.33 | |
| Total as % of total deaths | 0.43 | 1.02 | 0.73 | |
| Rate per 1,000 population | .8 | |||
Fourteen persons ended their own lives during 1965.
A number of surveys have been carried out to determine the frequency of
attempted suicide compared to that which is successful. The 1964
report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health records
figures varying from 10 :1 to 6 :1. Applying this range of
figures to the Sutton cases, between 80 and 140 people may have
attempted to terminate their own lives during the year.
One can only speculate on the circumstances leading up to a
state of mind which drives a person towards this extreme measure, but
one wonders whether the timely application of a little more tolerance
or human sympathy might not have prevented tragedy in a number of
cases.
(i) Infant Deaths
| Age | Males | Females | TOTAL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Legit. | Illegit. | Total | Legit. | Illegit. | ||
| Under 1 year of age | 19 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 36 |
| Under 4 weeks of age | 12 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 13 | — | 25 |
| Under 1 week of age | 9 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 8 | — | 17 |
(J ) Infant Mortality Rates
| Infant Total infant deaths per 1,000 total live births | 14.41 |
| Legitimate infant deaths per 1,000 legitimate live births | 14.06 |
| Illegitimate infant deaths per 1,000 illegitimate live births | 13.2 |
| Neo-natal Deaths under four weeks per 1,000 total live births | 9.89 |
| Early Neo-natal Deaths under one week per 1,000 total live and stillbirths | 6.73 |
| Peri-natal Stillbirths and deaths under one week combined per 1,000 total live and stillbirths | 18.6 |
| Maternal Number of deaths | Nil |
| Rate per 1,000 total live and stillbirths | Nil |