Annual report / City of Calgary, Department of Public Health.

  • Calgary (Alta.). Health Department.
Date:
[1940]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report / City of Calgary, Department of Public Health. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/68 (page 2)
    To: His Worship The Mayor, Commissioner, . ^ and Members of the City Council, constituting The Local Boar! of Health of the City of Calgary. Mrs. Wilkinson and Gentlemen: I beg to submit herein a report covering the activities of the City Health Department for the year 1940. VITAL STATISTICS The rates expressed throught this report are based on the popu¬ lation of the City as determined by the Civic Census of June 1937. This was 85,726 and is thought to, be sufficiently close to the present figures to warrant an expression/rates on the basis of this number. It is reported there is to be a Dominion Census taken during the early summer of 1941 and, aside from giving a new basis for report calculation, it will be interesting to observe from the population then determined, what is unquestionably a tendency for Western populations to become more stablized. Both the gross and net rates appear in most of the tables, the net having specifically to do with the figures as they relate to Calgary as such. MARRIAGES. The number of marriages registered during the year 1941 was 1851 or a rate per thousand of population of 21.6 The number of marriages registered in 1939 represented the greatest number in any one year in the City's history. During that year 1529 were registered with a rate of 17.3 per thousand population. The number for 1940 was in excess of 1939 to the extent of 322. This desirable situation does not altogether reflect an increasing measure of economic security on the part of the individual but is occasioned in part at least by the influx of a good many young men of marr iagable age and what has always been a war-time tendency to contract marriage before departure for overseas service. In a word the marriage rate at the present time is considerably above the strictly normal level. BIRTHS. During the year 1408 net births were registered, a rate of 16.4 per thousand population. It will be noted that both in number and consequently of rate, this is a considerable increase over the 1939, when the number of births was 1249 and the rate 14.57 As mentioned before, rates are expressed on the assumption that the population remains at 85,726 and, if such were actually so, the increase would be most encouraging. However, it would appear that the population, having in mind the recent arrivals, is greater than in the year 1937, and a computation of the birth rate as it would relate to the increased population would not show so advantageously. The net number of stillbirths registered in 1940 was 43 or a rate per thousand of population of 0.5 The figure shows an increase over the previous year, no doubt accounted for by the step up in the birth rate. A good deal of attention has been given during the last few years to the several causes for babies being born dead. The problem is most difficult and embraces many considerations, and whilst rate reduction has been noted, progress is slow. There are approxi¬ mately 6000 stillbirths throughout th e Dominion each year. DEATHS. 677 net deaths were reported in 1940, representing a City death, rate of 7.9 per thousand population. It will be noted there is a slight increase as compared with 1939 when 647 deaths were reported and the rate was 7.55 It has bee n men tione d in previous reports t at