View report page

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 on the health of the
district for the year 1962.
One very important consideration which must now be taken into
account is the fact that the district has reached maturity in that it is virtually
completely developed. With very little scope for expansion except by
redevelopment at a greater density, the average age of the population
increases year by year since outward migration resulting from housing
shortage is chiefly by young adults. This will have the effect, other things
being equal, of a rising death rate and a falling birth rate. The geriatric
problem of caring adequately for old people will also inevitably increase.
In the 1930's and 1940's the population increased rapidly, chiefly as a result
of the St. Helier Estate and the expansion was mainly by young adults with
young families. The emphasis then from the point of view of the public
services, was on the young for example maternity and child welfare, education
etc., now it is swinging more and more to the needs of the older age
groups.
The vital statistics for 1962 reflect this trend. The birth rate fell to
12.6 per thousand population from 14.7 in the year before and the crude
death rate rose from 9.9 to 10.6, which is the first time it has reached 10
since 1925, though it is still less than the national rate. In this connection
it is interesting to note that the lowest local death rates were, as one would
expect from the age constitution of the population, in the years 1935 to
1939, the earlier years of the St. Helier Estate when the rate fell to 6.6 in
two of those years. Infant mortality in 1962 was little changed and is
approximately the same as for England and Wales, but a higher proportion
of the total deaths under one year occurred during the first week of life
and were due to "unavoidable" causes, such as prematurity, congenital
malformations etc. There was no maternal mortality. Cancer claimed a
higher proportion of the total deaths, rather more than a quarter and of
these cancer of the lungs accounted for 34 of which 8 were women.
The year 1962 established a new record low incidence of infectious
disease. The district was free entirely from poliomyelitis, meningitis,
smallpox, diphtheria and ophthalmia neonatorum, whilst the cases of
measles, whooping cough and tuberculosis were the lowest yet recorded.
There was no death from any of these infections other than tuberculosis
which caused the death of only three persons all over the age of 60 years,
the fewest to date. There is no doubt that the vigorous pursuit of the
various immunisation schemes makes a large contribution to these gratifying
results.
3