Report on 1945 AC 1366 BET 50 Public Health Department, Town Hall, Bethnal Green, E.2. 2nd July, 1946. To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Annual Report for 1945 is presented in the abridged form required by the Ministry of Health. It has fallen to my lot to present this report owing to the untimely death of my colleague, Dr. Vynne Borland. Dr. Borland endeared himself to all who knew him; he was a capable, helpful colleague, always thoughtful for the welfare of others. His loss was felt deeply, not only in Bethnal Green where he had been Medical Officer of Health since May, 1929, but also to all who met him during the many years he was Secretary of the Metropolitan Branch and member of the Council of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. His kind help and co-operation were always deeply appreciated by me in my own appointment. VITAL STATISTICS The shifting of population and its altered age and sex composition during the war render the calculation and interpretation of vital statistics for recent years somewhat difficult. It should be borne in mind that the following war-time figures, which are given as a rough guide, relate solely to the civilian population of the borough. 1936-8 average 1939 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 Death rate 12.2 11.5 20.1 20.5 14.8 20.2 17.9 14.1 Infant death rate 70 51 50 62 46 70.3 72.1 20.2 Birth rate 13.7 12.8 15.1 17.0 19.3 18.7 17.8 17.0 Maternal mortality rate 1.9 1.7 Nil 1.5 1.0 2.2 1.1 1.1 The Registrar-General has given 49,640 as his estimate of the civilian population in 1945. MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE With the termination of the war and the return of many mothers and young children from evacuation, the work of the Health Visitors and the Welfare Centre substantially increased and is still increasing as this report is written. This brings into urgent prominence the need for the earliest possible provision of one or more adequate Health Centres to replace the very restricted and unattractive accommodetion now available. Attendances at Welfare Centres 1036-8 average 1959 1040 1941 1042 1043 1044 1045 Babies (0-1) 10,352 9851 5745 3509 5542 6372 4118 6120 Children (1-5) 7,427 6832 3551 883 785 758 599 864 Mother s: Ante-natal 1,337 1247 815 687 1172 1734 1458 1820 " Post-natal 345 185 7 - 8 16 0 11 Visits of Health Visitors gabies (0-1) 12,577 8,093 9,757 4109 4764 7646 6912 7389 Children (1-5) 13,880 10,044 13,317 7580 4826 6750 6428 7142 Mothers: Ante-nate1 1, 374 1,157 674 256 317 830 802 581 " Post-natal 367 128 75 37 40 08 56 34 Total visits and revisits: 31,242 21,476 23,356 13,841 11,415 17,042 15,323 16,706 - 2 - • DISEASE The following figures show the general trend throughout the war, but it will be borne in mind that they were considerably affected by the evacuation of a large part of the child population: 1936-8 average 1959 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Measles ( 254) + (1143) 23 187 489 786 357 172 565 4 Whooping Cough ( 410)+ ( 250) 512 10 345 160 193 184 74 Tuberculosis 134 101 82 96 116 101 124 102 Other notifiable infectious disease 951 566 272 309 288 478 212 283 + In view of the biennial incidence of these diseases, separate figures for 1937 1938 are given instead of the triennial average. As will be seen, there was a reduction in the number of cases of Tuberculosis and Whooping Cough, offset by a substantial increase in Measles. There were also increases in the number of cases of Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever and Dysentery during the year. TUBERCULOSIS During the year, 139 new cases were added to the Tuberculosis Register and 232 cases were taken off, leaving the number at the end of the year 752. The Tuberculosis Visitors paid a total of 3601 visits to patients. At the Tuberculosis Dispensary 621 patients were examined by the Tuberculosis Officer or his assistant, end 94 were found to be suffering from Tuberculosis. There were 1974 attendances of old patients and 219 contacts were examined. The work at the Dispensary has considerably increased arising from the administration of the Treatment allowances scheme. FOOD 1936-8 average 1939 1940 1041 1942 1043 1044 1045 Unsound Food: Seizures 2 – 1 3 – – 1 – Surrenders 19 16 41 45 176 204 252 259 Samples of Food taken 724 690 559 557 578 520 500 572 % of adulteration (all samples) 3-9 3.9 5.2 6.5 3.9 3.1 6.4 3.3 % of adulteration (milk samples) 2.6 2.7 3.8 3.3 0.7 Nil 2.4 1.2 - 3 - SANITATION Owing to the concentration of available building labour and materials on new housing construction, the remedying of nuisances and sanitary defects has been rendered difficult and it will be noted that there has been a substantial increase in the number of complaints. 1936-8 average 1939 1740 1941 1942 1947 1944 1945 Infectious disease land food poisoning 2074 865 404 663 930 1221 694 685 Complaints 4756 4295 3625 3305 4226 3947 3401 4765 House-to-house inspection 672 451 - 4 - - 41 105 Total visits: 44,608 44,954 32,627 31,277 36,368 33,092 30,723 32,107 Premises where nuisances abated 5657 4658 3592 3172 3585 3184 2814 2831 Preliminary notices 5575 6234 4312 3585 4280 3675 2837 4030 Nuisance notices 2474 3109 1878 1647 1623 1355 1042 1529 DISINFECTION The disinfecting staff sprayed 585 rooms and disinfected 18,082 articles. The Personal Cleansing Station continues to be very well used for the treatment of cases of Scabies, as many as 124 men, 367 women, and 271 children attending for this purpose and having a total of 1689 treatments. WAR-TIME NURSERIES Three nurseries are now in operation in the borough. Difficulty continues to be experienced in obtaining adequate and suitable staff but despite this and other adverse circumstances, the nurseries continue to perform a valuable function in child care and nurture. Finally, although my tenure of office has been so brief, I appreciate very much the co-operation and goodwill that exists in the administration of the Borough. In the Public Health Department I have particularly to express my thanks to the Chief Administrative Assistant, Mr. Lloyd, and the Senior Sanitary Inspector, Mr. Billings, who have helped me in every possible way. G. H. DART, Acting Medical Officer of Health.