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11
Report.
In the first place I would like to point out the favourable position
the town holds as regards Phthisis and other forms of Tuberculosis.
The only figures I can give which are absolutely accurate are those of
the deaths recorded from these diseases, and for practical purposes
it may be taken for granted that the cases are four or five times the
number of recorded deaths. The average death rate from Tuberculous
diseases in Wimbledon for the past ten years is 1.2 per
thousand, or 12 per 10,000 (including deaths of Wimbledon persons
in public institutions beyond the district). The accompanying chart *
shows the corresponding rate for England and Wales and the remarkable
decline which has occurred since the year 1851, from
which date statistics for England and Wales as regards this disease
are available. The decline in the Phthisis death rate since 1838 in
England and Wales is from over 3,800 to 1,100 per million, a fall of
over 70 per cent., a reduction of more than two-thirds.
It is interesting to note the progress of events since 1832 (the
Cholera year) which had the effect of awakening the medical
profession and conductors of the public press to the necessity for
alterations in the system of Public Hygienic Conservancy. The first
of these measures in 1838 was the institution of the Registrar-General's
returns of Births, Oeaths and Marriages. The revelations made by
his earliest reports as to the enormous waste of life then proceeding
in all large towns brought about in 1842 the " Health of Towns
Commission," and shortly afterwards steps were taken to mitigate
their unhealthiness. Medical Officets of Health were appointed in
.
several towns, noticeably the City of London and Liverpool, and from
this beginning sprang the sanitary service as at present constituted.
In 1845 laws were passed containing regulations respecting
buildings, their drainage and ventilation, and others followed in the
same direction.
In 1847 an Act for the improvement of towns which included the
appointment of Inspector of Nuisances was passed, and in 1848 the
first Sanitary Act was passed; also the law against the sale of
diseased meat, and other beneficial measures followed, such as the
abolition of Window Tax, the Diseases Prevention Act of 1855, the
Removal of Nuisances Act, also in 1855, the Local Government Act
* Chart not reproduced in this Annual Report.