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4
In the six-year period General Practitioners carried out 23 per
cent. of the vaccinations.
Last year the figures for ordinary immunisation, mostly with the
triple antigen, against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus,
amounted to about 85 per cent. of all children under one year of age,
again a very high rate.
The tuberculosis death rate at 0.06 compares with 0.07 per
1,000 population for England and Wales. Notifications were 21
compared with 17 for the previous year. Ten years ago there were
more than 100 each year.
Dysentery was notified in one case only as against 6 for 1960.
There were no cases of enteric fever.
The birth rate of 14.55 per 1,000 population becomes, after
correction by the comparability factor, 14.26 compared with 17.4
for England and Wales.
The death rate of 10.22 becomes, after correction by the
comparability factor, 12.06 per 1,000 population, against 12.00 for
England and Wales. It is almost invariably below that of England
and Wales. The increase in deaths in 1961 was mainly due to
respiratory diseases and accidents.
The death rate from cancer for Mitcham in 1961 stayed the
same at 2.25 while that for England and Wales increased from 2.16
to 2.17 per 1,000 population. Deaths from lung cancer have been at
much the same level for the past seven years in Mitcham.
As regards infant mortality the local rate was 18.32 and the rate
for England and Wales, 21.6 per 1,000 live births, the lowest ever
recorded.
A Home Safety Committee was set up in September which
participated in Fire Prevention Week and instituted other Home
Safety measures.
The Meals-on-Wheels service, run by the W.V.S., was able,
thanks to the recruitment of more voluntary drivers, to increase its
service to the housebound to four days a week and the number of
meals supplied rose from 3,633 in 1960 to 4,959 in 1961.