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9
METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF HACKNEY.
REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
FOR THE YEAR 1928.
Public Health Department,
Town Hall, Hackney, E. 8.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit, in accordance with the instructions
of the Ministry of Health, the Annual Report on the health of the
Metropolitan Borough of Hackney for the year 1928.
A comparative table for the Borough, showing the death, birth
and infantile mortality rates for the past 10 years, is set out on
page 30.
The death-rate for Hackney for the past year is 11 • 7, an increase
on the previous year's rate of 11.6, this rate being slightly higher than
the County rate, which is 11.6, as compared with 11.9 for the
previous year. Measles and Cancer showed the most striking increases
as regards the deaths.
The infantile mortality rate of the Borough, measured by the
number of deaths under one year of age per 1,000 births, was 67, as
compared with 64 for the previous year ; the Borough average during
the last five years 1924-1928 is 63, as compared with 72 for the
previous five years. The figure for London for the year 1928 is 67.
The zymotic death-rate is 0.54, as compared with 0.46 for 1927.
The number of Scarlet Fever cases notified during 1928 was 947, as
compared with 979 in 1927, and the number of Diphtheria cases
notified in 1928 was 741, as compared with 644 during 1927. The
deaths from Scarlet Fever numbered 7, being three more than the
previous year, and the deaths from Diphtheria 28, being 2 more than
those registered in 1928. A Diphtheria Immunisation Clinic commenced
work at 28, Lower Clapton Road at the beginning of 1928,
and a statement on the working of the Clinic appears on page 37.
The care and vigilance exercised by Dr. Porter-Smith are appreciated
by the parents, and there has been no difficulty experienced
during the past year in the carrying on of this Clinic except, as pointed
out by Dr. Porter-Smith, in bringing the work of the Clinic to the
notice of parents of children of school age.