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3
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
TOWN HALL, HACKNEY, E.8.
June, 1957
To His Worship the Mayor and to the Aldermen and
Councillors of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report on the health and
sanitary circumstances of the Borough of Hackney for the year 1956.
This report is the 101st in the series of health reports submitted to
this local authority, and it is the fifth report which I personally have
the privilege of presenting.
Statistics. The mid-year population of the borough, as estimated by
the Registrar General, was 165,800 persons, 1,400 fewer than in the
previous year. The enumerated population at the census of 1951 was
171,342, and at the census of 1931 it was 215,333. Deaths from all
causes totalled 1,845 as compared with 1,743 in 1955. The crude death
rate per thousand of the population was 11.13 as compared with a rate
(provisional) of 11.7 for England and Wales as a whole. The corrected
Hackney death rate after the application of the "area comparability
factor" of 1.11 was 12.35; this factor makes allowance for the age and
sex distribution of the population, and thereby enables a more accurate
comparison to be made between the rates of given areas. The total
number of live births was 2,470 resulting in a birth rate of 14.90 per
thousand of the population, or a corrected rate of 13.71 after applying
the birth rate "area comparability factor" of 0.92. The number of
deaths of infants under one year was 44, resulting in an infantile
mortality rate of 17.81 as compared with a rate of 23.8 (provisional)
for England and Wales. There was only one death from causes associated
with pregnancy giving a maternal death rate of 0.40 as compared with a
rate of 0.56 (provisional) for England and Wales.
Malignant disease in all sites claimed 381 deaths as compared with 368
in the previous year. The 84 deaths from malignant disease of the lung
and bronchus were nine more than in 1955. The death rate from cancer
of the lung and bronchus in Hackney was 0.51 per thousand of the population,
as compared with a rate of 0.41 (provisional) for England and
Wales. The association between the increased death rate from cancer in
these sites and atmospheric pollution and heavy cigarette smoking is now
generally accepted. There is an increasingly strong current of opinion
that the time has arrived for Central Government to sponsor a campaign
of health education against cigarette smoking, particularly amongst the
younger members of the community.
Accidental deaths. Deaths from motor vehicle accidents were fifteen as
compared with thirteen in the previous year. All other types of
accidents accounted for 36 deaths and five of these were in children
under the age of fifteen years. There were 19 deaths due to accidents
in the home, and 16 of these were in persons aged 60 years or over.
Infectious disease. The incidence of serious infectious disease was
low. Of the total number of 1,394 (3,293 in 1955) notifications