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Annual Report
of the
Medical Officer of Health,
FOR 1897.
To the Chairman and Members of the Southall-Norwood Urban
District Council.
Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit for your consideration my 7th
Annual Report on the vital statistics and sanitary condition of your
District: which also contains an account of the various Infectious
Diseases which have been prevalent, and the steps which have been
taken and still require to be taken to prevent their spread, and
recurrence in the future.
With regard to the vital statistics, the general death rate is
popularly taken as a criterion of the healthiness of a District; but it
is only when we can compare the rates for a consecutive number of
years that it becomes of value, and even then, numerous factors have
to be taken into consideration before it can be said that such a rate is
a good or bad indication, and especially so, before we can institute
comparisons with the healthiness of other places.
Regard must be had to the social conditions and occupations of
the populations and more especially must we take into consideration
the Zymotic Death Rate and Infantile Mortality.