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PREFACE
To the Chairman and Members of the
Carshalton Urban District Council.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year
1938.
The Public Health Staff, in common with their colleagues in
other Departments, have, as you are aware, devoted a considerable
part of their time, both in and out of office hours, to the work
of the Air Raid Precautions Scheme. They have, at the same time,
striven hard, and, I venture to suggest, successfully to maintain
the high standard of efficiency of the public health services.
Statistically, the year 1938 compares favourably with its predecessors.
The death rate remains at a comparatively low figure;
infant mortality is again less than for the country as a whole and
maternity mortality, though higher than the year before, is lower
than the rate for England and Wales. The birth rate shows a
slight reduction on 1937 and is but little different from the general
figure.
Of the commoner infectious diseases there was a reduction in
the prevalence of scarlet fever and a further marked fall in the
incidence of diphtheria among the resident population (i.e.,
excluding Queen Mary's Hospital) with no mortality from these
two infections.