[Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, South Shields County Borough.

  • South Shields (Durham, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, South Shields County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/72
    INTRODUCTORY. To the Chairman and Members of the Health Committee, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I have the honour to submit to you my third Annual Report on the Health of the Borough, being the 29th Report presented by successive Medical Officers. It is a pleasure to be able to say that in many respects the health of the town has been good. The death- rate of 17.1 per 1,000 is the lowest on record, and the death-rate from infectious disease—1.01 per 1,000—is eminently satisfactory. If these figures were maintained, and we could point to them and say these were our average rates for a period of say ten years we might indeed congratulate ourselves. But we have to recognise that during the past twelve months many causes, over which we have little or no control, have aided us in our efforts. The meteorological conditions in particular—the phenomenally great rainfall, the absence of hot weather—have exercised a potent influence. The general death-rate throughout the country and the average death- rates in the Great and in the Small Towns have all fallen. There are exceptions, and some towns have not benefited to the same extent as others ; some, of which South Shields is one, have benefited more than others. Our relative position is improved ; instead of taking 64th place in the list of 76 Great Towns, we take 52nd place. But surely South Shields, with all its natural advantages, should achieve