[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Tottenham].

  • Tottenham (England). Borough Council.
Date:
[1955]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Tottenham]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    22/140 (page 16)
    16 Puerperal Pyrexia Hiring the year the form of notification was amended to include informa tion of the cause of pyrexia if known. One case of puerperal pyrexia was notified during the year. Cancer There were 1,187 deaths in the borough from all causes, and of these 251 or 21% were due to cancer. In considering the sexes male deaths were 640 with 139 from cancer, and female deaths were 547 with 112 from cancer. An analysis of the principal sites shows the following:- Male Female Digestive organs 53 54 Respiratory system 52 7 Breast and Genito urinary system 16 35 Cancer is a disease which is taking an ever increasing toll of the community. Figures for the past few years have shown a steady rise in the number of deaths from this cause. If, however, the death rates per 1,000 of the population over the past fifty years are examined, the increase in mortality is striking - from 0.42 per 1,000 in 1904 to 2.04 per 1,000 in 1954. It is probable that some of this increase is due to improved diagnosis and an ageing population. Further, the figures for earlier years may not be strictly comparable with those of later years owing to the adoption of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death in 1948. However, bearing in mind all these facts, there would appear to have been a real increase in the incidence of cancer over the past half century, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that this is in some way associated with the changing environment and habits of individuals and the community over that period. Cancer Deaths over past 50 years Year Number of Cancer Deaths Population Rate per 1,000 1904 52 121,279 0. 42 09 100 149, 283 0. 66 14 125 149,495 0.83 19 135 152, 508 0.88 24 166 156,000 1. 06 29 195 168,000 1. 17 34 215 152,694 1. 39 39 209 136,000 1. 54 44 236 108, 180 2. 16* 49 264 130,040 2.03 54 251 123, 200 2 04 * Population depleted of young healthy adults on war service and evacuated children, resulting in higher proportion of population in age groups where cancer deaths usually occur.