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PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
92, BATH ROAD,
HOUNSLOW.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Heston and Isleworth,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report on the health, vital statistics and sanitary circumstances
of the Borough for the year 1951. The report has been prepared on lines suggested by the
Ministry of Health and for convenience the larger statistical tables have been grouped together at the
end of the Report.
The birth rate is the lowest on record and if the low rate continues serious social changes will appear
in the future. The death rate and the incidence of infectious diseases show little departure from previous
years and call for no special comment. The low infant mortality rate continued and for the first time
in the Borough records no woman died from any condition associated with pregnancy and childbirth,
The recruitment of a full staff of Sanitary Inspectors has enabled full attention to be given to environmental
matters and this is reflected in the records of work done.
Only health services under the direct control of the Council are considered in this Report. Many
factors contribute to the health and well being of the citizens and many agencies are concerned. This
multiplicity of agencies, statutory and voluntary, should not be allowed to obscure the primary responsibility
of each individual citizen. Health and social services provide measures designed to prevent and
cure disease but they fall short of their real goal if they fail to encourage individuals to take a greater
interest in their own health and that of their children. The health of individuals is the measure of the health
of a nation.
Only the failures of preventive medicine such as outbreaks of smallpox have any news value and
the slow but steady progress through the years attracts no headlines. This Report deals with the continued
plodding of your Health Department but here and there casts a backward glance to gauge the
distance travelled and to seek encouragement to keep right on.
Throughout the year I have had full co-operation and assistance from the other Departments of
the Council. The loyal co-operation of my staff has continued and I would like to express my thanks
to the Council for their support and encouragement.
I remain,
Your obedient Servant,
A. ANDERSON,
Medical Officer of Health.
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