[Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Stourbridge Borough.

  • Stourbridge (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Stourbridge Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/70 (page 3)
    ANNUAL REPORT of the MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH for 1968 To: The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Stourbridge Vital Statistics The estimated population of the Borough at mid--year showed an increase ct 670 over chat of the previous year and stood at 51»970. The increase this year is less than that of other recent twelve- month periods. Once a egin we have had a year free of maternal deaths in child¬ birth or abortion and all connected with the maternity services deserve our gratitude and congratulations on this achievement. The infant mortality rate (the number of deaths of children under one year per 1,000 live births) is 11.39 which compares favourably with the corresponding national figure of lo.O. This rate is regarded as having considerable significance as an index of living standards and hygiene and it is gratifying that Stourbridge has such a low death-rate of infants. The c^ude death rate for all ages in the Borough in 1968 was 10.3 per 1,000 estimated resident population. When adjusted to take into account the age range of the population, the death rate is 11.2, slightly less than the corresponding figure for England and Wares which is 11.9* Causes of Death The trends are very similar to these of previous years. It is of interest that no death is reported in a child between the ages of one year and fifteen years. Diseases of the heart and blood-vessels account for no less than 34.7 per cent of ell deaths. Most of the victims are men and some are relatively young men who may well be family tread-winners. As far as is known to medical science we can best protect out,solves against these diseases by what may be termed the rule of three: keep active, keep weight down, keep off cigarettes. Twenty-two men and five women died of lung cancer, the total being somewhat less than the previous year’s all-time hi.gh of thirty-two. For heavy cigarette smokers the risk of dying of this condition is one in eight as against one in three hundred for non-smokers. Each individual must make his or her own decisions on personal habits but it is the duty of those of us who are concerned with health education to ”shout the odds so that su^.h decisions are taken with full knowledge of what is involved. Infectious diseases Apart from measles there were no major outbreaks during the year. Case of typhoid fever A young woman who had been on holiday in Tunis developed typhoid fever and was treated in Moxley Hospital, Wednesbury. She made a good recovery and tests later showed that she had not become a typhoid carrier. The patient’s daughter who accompanied her on the holiday and a retired gentleman, also from the Borough, who had stayed in the same hotel, did not develop the disease. There was no spread of typhoid fever to other persons. 3