[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Banbury Borough.

  • Banbury (Oxfordshire, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1955
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Banbury Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/40 (page 2)
    To the Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councilloraof the Borough of Banbury. MR, MAYOR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,- I beg to submit my nineteenth ,jinual Report, which re- cords the Health Services of the Borough during 1955. The re- port was prepared In accordance with the requirements of Circular 17/56 of the Ministry of Health. Vital Statistics. The vital statistics for the Borough appear to be satisfactory and compare favourable with those of the country as a whole The Birth Rate was 14.4 In 1955 compared with 15.8 In 1954 and 15.0 In England and Wales. The Stlll-blrth Rate 24.7 per lOOO was much the same In 1954 (26 per 1000) (England and Wales 23 i). The Death Rate was 11 6 as compared with 10.35 In 1954 and 11.7 In England and Wales. The most common causes of death weres- Heart Disease (Including Coronary Thrombosis) 67 Vascular Diseases of Nervous System ... 45 Cancer ... ... ... ... 29 Other Diseases of Circulation ... ... 15 Pneumonia .. „ ... ... 14 A satisfactory feature Is the considerable reduction In the number of deaths from Cancer, 29 as compared with 43 during the previous year, The number of deaths from Cancer of the lung was 4 compared with lO during the previous year. It was suggested In last year's Annual Report that the Increase In Banbury In 1954 was probably of a temporary character and this seems to be borne out by figures for 1955. Nevertheless this Is not true of the country as a whole and the matter has recently received a great amount of publicity by the Press and by the B B. C. Cigarette smoking has been Implicated as a factor In Its causation and benz- pyrene which Is present In cigarettes Is undoubtedly a cancer-producing agent, but It Is also present In petrol and diesel oils, which have Increased enormously In use In recent years There appears to be undoubtedly some relationship between cigarette-smoking and lung cancer, but In the case of petrol and diesel fumes the position Is less clear. As far as the public are concerned probably the best advice oi the subject Is contained In a leading article In a recent Issue of the British Medical Journal where It Is stateds- There would seem to be no doubt that If young men and women to-day refrained from smoking cigarettes the mortality from lung cancer would drop sharply In say, twenty years