[Report 1932] / Medical Officer of Health, Dundee City.

  • Dundee (Scotland). City Council.
Date:
1932
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1932] / Medical Officer of Health, Dundee City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the fall is certainly less marked, but nevertheless quite definite, among- infants in the early weeks of life. Very often sudden changes in the. infantile death-rate are dependent on the inci- dence of infectious disease, and to some extent that influence affected the rate in 1932, but nevertheless pneumonia was just as prevalent in the city during the year 1932 as it was in 1931. Measles appeared in epidemic form in the spring of the year, although whooping cough was not so widespread. These three diseases usually take their toll of infant life, but they were not so successful, if one might express it that way, in the year 1932, as they have been in the past. One can only assume that th.e resist- ing power of the infant and its mother was greater, and this may have been, and probably was, due to improved nutrition. As already explained, one cannot confine one’s attention to the rates for any one year, and one cannot expect the infantile rate to remain as low as 72, and a rise during the present year would not be un- expected. It is hoped that any rise which takes place will not exceed the figure of 92, which occurred in 1931. From the point of view of vital statistics, one year in a community of the size of Dundee is a very short period on which to base conclusions. It is satisfactory to note that Dundee provided the lowest infantile mortality rate of the four principal cities in Scotland, and the Dun- dee figure of 72 compares very favourably with the figures for the whole of Scotland, which was 86, and with that for the larger Burghs, which was 97. This serves as an effective answer to the statement, which is sometimes made, that Dundee is a black spot so far as infantile mortality is concerned. Another figure, which may be used as a measure of the health of the community is the tuberculosis death-rate, and that also pro- vides a record. The figure was .78 per 1,000 population, com- pared with .95 for 1931, the previous record. The decline was shared by both pulmonary and non-pulmonary tuberculosis, and if improved nutrition was the important factor in this decline, one must conclude that the improvement has operated over a period of years and not only during the year to which the figures are applic- able. The general death-rate was 13.8 per 1,000 population, a record figure, being just below the 1931 rate, 13.9 per 1,000. The birth-rate was 18.5 per 1,000 compared with 19.5 in 1931, and 2i,i in 1930.