[Report 1971] / Medical Officer of Health, Dundee City.

  • Dundee (Scotland). City Council.
Date:
1971
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1971] / Medical Officer of Health, Dundee City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/162 (page 5)
    Annual Report, 1971 The Lord Provost, Magistrates and Town Council for the City of Dundee. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have, once again, pleasure in presenting my report on the work of the Health Department for the year 1971. During the year a start has been made to effect the reorganisation of the National Health Service in Scotland and this is scheduled to take effect in 1974. In the text of this Annual Report various statistics will indicate that the health in the city has been maintained at a high level and it is hoped that this trend will continue in the future. Vital Statistics: The statistics show that the health of the City has been maintained at a satisfactory level, although no records have been broken. Population : The population of the City as estimated by the Registrar General at the middle of 1971, was 182,930 — an increase of 1,422 over the previous year. The natural increase of population — the increase of births over deaths — is 816. Deaths: The number of deaths corrected for transfers during 1971 was 2,087 compared with 2,142 in 1970. The respective rates per 1,000 population were 11.4 and 11.8. The figures for Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow are 11.8,12.9 and 13.0 respectively. The average age at death during 1971 was 69; in 1970 it was 68. The proportional mortality ratio which is the number of deaths at the age of 50 years and over expressed as a precentage of the total number of deaths in the population was 90.7 per cent. In 1970 this figure was 89.4 per cent. Ten deaths were attributed to tuberculosis this year compared to eight last year. Deaths from respiratory conditions decreased from 288 in 1970 to 276. There were no deaths from Influenza during the year — 22 in 1970. The principal causes of all deaths, diseases of the heart and cir¬ culation accounted for 1,032 deaths of which 565 were due to ischaemic heart disease and 285 to cerebrovascular disease. The number of malignant deaths — 465 — shows a decrease of 2 compared with the 1970 figure of 467. Cancer of the lung accounted for 138 of these (112 males and 26 females). Deaths from unnatural causes remain high — accidents in the home 35 (27), motor vehicle accidents 18 (24) and suicides 27 (35). The 1970 figures are shown in brackets. Infant Deaths : The 1971 figure of 15 per 1,000 births is higher than the record breaking figure of 14 per 1,000 births in 1970. The under-