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INTRODUCTION BY THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH.
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
2, SHALSTON VILLAS,
SURBITON.
June, 1958.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Borough of Surbiton.
Annual Report 1957.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the Annual Report on the
Public Health and Social conditions of the Borough for 1957.
The Report is on a similar pattern to that for previous
years and prepared as indicated by Ministry of Health Circular
1/58.
The year was one of steady progress and the health of the
people was good.
The vital statistics are favourable, maintaining the
satisfactory trend of recent years, and upholding the fact that
Surbiton is a good place in which to live ana work.
Population: The home population as given by the RegistrarGeneral
is 63,110, an increase of 500 on the figures for 1956.
This compares with an increase of 40 in 1955 and continues the
trend of recent years.
It will be remembered that the constitution of the
population is mainly of the Registrar-General's Classes I,II,
and III, which are all Professional, Intermediate and Skilled
occupations, there being more than twice the proportion of
these classes in Surbiton than for the Country as a whole.
The sex and age constitution of the population is such that the
comparative figure is unity for births and 1.07 for deaths.
Thus the sex and age constitution is not greatly different from
that of the Country as a whole.
Infectious Disease: The number of infectious disease
notifications received in 1957 was 1160 compared with 686 for
1956. The increase is entirely due to an outbreak of measles.
There were also 202 cases of dysentery, a decrease of 87
against the previous year. Freedom from diphtheria is again
noted and is unquestionably due to the special attention to
diphtheria immunisation.
Vaccination afiainst Poliomyelitis. This valuable new
protective procedure was carried out during the whole year
at a pace determined by the supply of vaccine.
Suitable arrangements were in hand to use the material
to the best advantage as soon as it was received.
It was given in rotation to those children who had
registered applications for the vaccine with the Government's
scheme. British vaccine was used throughout.
2.