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PREFACE
To the Chairman and Members of the
Car.shai.ton Urban District Council.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year 1944.
The ban on the publication of information likely to be of use to the
enemy having been removed, this is the first full Report since 1939,
and it is helpful to note how the health of the district has fared
through more than five years of total war.
Perhaps the most outstanding feature is the fact that despite the
numerous adverse circumstances which a conflict of this magnitude
produces the general well-being was maintained at a level far above
that which could have been anticipated. That after so long a sustained
effort there should be evidence of general mental and physical
strain is inevitable, but there is, so far, no instance of a definite
breakdown in communal health in any direction. Whether this war
will yet produce its aftermath similar to the 1918-19 pandemic of
severe influenza remains to be seen. Unfortunately, we cannot look
forward to such an early easing of our many burdens as after the
last war, and we still have a difficult time ahead.
Examining the vital statistics individually, we find that the birth
rate has risen from 13.2 per 1,000 population in 1939 to 17.0 in 1944,
though not before it dipped to the lowest on record of 12.2 in 1940.
The recovery to 17.0 only equals the rate for 1930 and is still below
the average for the decade 1920-30. Although the death rate has
risen slightly, it is still a favourable index compared with the national
figure and the rate of natural increase, as represented by the difference
between the birth and death rates, is higher than pre-war. The trend
of infant mortality continues satisfactorily, the rate during the last
three years being under 40 per 1,000 births and 1942 producing the
lowest recorded in Carshalton. Much the same can be said of
maternal mortality, there being an average of 2 such deaths per year
over the last five years. One noteworthy change in this connection
is the greatly increased demand for institutional confinements.
Whereas before the war approximately one-third of the births
occurred in hospitals and nursing homes and two-thirds in private
houses, the position is now reversed. Of the causes of death, cancer
claimed an increased number of victims, and the death rate from this
disease has reached the highest level yet recorded. The variations in
the death rates from other causes are without significance.
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