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2
Public Health Department,
Town Hall. N. 15.
1st December, 1943,
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Tottenham.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This, my Annual Beport for 1942, sets out in an abbreviated, and
mainly statistical form, the salient features about the health of the
Borough.
Vital Statistics.
The population which immediately prior to the war was estimated
to be 144,400, and fell in mid-year 1941 to 105,620, rose in 1942 to the
figure of 110.100, and is still rising. The birth rate per 1,000 of the
population was 16.5, compared with 14.7 in 1941, and the number of
registered births was 1,819 or nearly 300 more than the previous year—
the proportion of male to female births being 909 males to 910 females.
The infant death rate was 43 per 1,000 live births as compared with 46
in 1941, or 49 for England and Wales. The maternal death rate continued
to remain at a low level, being 2.6 per 1,000 births, as compared with
2.2 in 1941. The general death rate of the civilian population also showed
an improvement over the previous year, being 12.2 as compared with
13.4 in 1941. Though no effort must be relaxed to improve further these
figures, it is gratifying to know that in the fourth year of war, the health
of the Borough was in many respects higher than at any time prior to
the war. Two at least of the great social factors influencing vital
statistics, namely, nutrition and employment have, by their improvement
since the war, contributed materially to the better standard of public
health. The third important social factor, housing, has on the other
hand, deteriorated since the war; and in this area, housing must be
regarded as priority number one in the task of combating disease and
promoting health and well being.
Infectious and Other Diseases.
Though no statistics are available relating to the total amount of
sickness among the population, there was a continued reduction in 1942
of notifiable infectious disease, including a slight reduction in the number
of cases of tuberculosis. The number of deaths from cancer, totalling 229
(116 male, 113 female) was in excess of the figure of 194 for the previous
year; the majority of deaths occurring between the ages of 65—85.