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3
Borough of Melden and Coombe.
ANNUAL REPORT
of
THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
1940
Public Health Department.
Municipal Offices,
New Malden.
August, 1941.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Borough of Malden and Coombe.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report for
the year 1940 which has been prepared on the lines indicated
in the Ministry of Health Circular 2314. It was
hardly to be expected that all vital statistics would show
the same progress under war conditions that they did in
times of peace and this deterioration is reflected in the
general death rate and in the tuberculosis figures. The
first complete year of war has produced a bi,rth rate of
14.5 per thousand compared with 15.4 in the previous
year and a death rate of 12.6 compared with a previous
figure of 9.3. There has been no significant change in the
mortality rate for mothers and young children. The
infectious disease statistics, with the exception of those
relating to tuberculosis, were on the whole very
satisfactory.
A particularly heavy strain was placed on the Department
in the latter months of the year as a result of
intensified war activities and I am exceedingly grateful