London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Southwark 1918
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, Borough of]
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SUMMARY OF STATISTICS, 1918.
Estimated population 161,968
Total Births 3,450
Total Deaths 3,757
Birth Rate for London 16.1
Do. Southwark 21.3
Death Rate for London 18.9
Do. Southwark 23.2
Cases of Infectious Disease notified.
| Measles. | Chicken Pox. | Epidemic Diarrhoea | Ophthalm. neonatorm. | Scarlet Fever. | Enteric Fever. | Diphtheria. | Erysipelas. | Puerperal Fever. | Membranous Croup. | Continued Fever. | Cerebrospinal Fever. | Phthisis. | Other Tuberculosis. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2442 | 223 | 130 | 45 | 653 | 8 | 491 | 150 | 12 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 579 | 195 | 4949 |
Deaths in the Sanitary Area from the principal Zymotic
Diseases.
| Total excluding Phthisis. | Small Pox. | Measles. | Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria. | W hooping Cough. | Tvphus Fever. | Enteric Fever. | Diarrhæa. | Phthisis. | Deaths under year to 1,000 Births. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 411 | — | 145 | 14 | 41 | 129 | — | 1 | 81 | 387 | - |
| The | Zymotic | Rate per 1 000 an d Infant Rate. | ||||||||
| 253 | — | 0.89 | 0.08 | 0.25 | 0.79 | — | - | 050 | 238 | 124 |
POPULATION
In the fifth year of the war the relation between births and deaths
has been seriously upset. In much of the year the deaths have exceeded
the births in number. The population has further declined in amount,
so the Registrar General states in his reports.
What is the precise shrinkage it would be impossible to say without
a census. It can be said, however, that the borough is suffering from
serious overcrowding which cannot be remedied owing to shortage of
house accommodation. Southwark is one of the most, if not the most,
densely populated districts of the Metropolis, and apart from one or two
scheduled areas, such as those of Tabard Street and Grotto Place, there
is little vacant land upon which new houses can be built. There is
a large number of houses in the old part of Southwark quite unfit for