[Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Kent County Council.

  • Kent (England). County Council. n 50045898.
Date:
1957
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Kent County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/50
    Health Department, County Hall, Maidstone, October, 1958. To the Chairman and Members of the Kent County Council. In presenting my annual report for the year 1957 I am following the usual practice of including a review of services provided under the National Assistance Act which are administered by the Health Committee and wluch form part of the work of the Health Department. The vital statistics for the Administrative Coimty show that the population has increased by 12,800 over the previous year and totals 1,613,800. The birth rate for the year was 15.30, an increase over previous years, and the munber of births was 24,693. The infantile mortahty rate, that is the number of deaths of infants imder one year for each thousand live births, was 20.25, which was the lowest figure recorded for the County. A comparison between this figure and those of 49 in 1937 and 96 in 1907 indicates the improvement that has taken place in the expectation of life of newly-bom infants. Tne report follows the usual lines in describing each of the services provided by the Health Committee and in this prefatory letter I am only commenting on certain points of particiilar interest. One aspect of the rise in the economic well-being of the community is displayed in the sharp decrease in the incidence of the common notifiable infectious diseases; thus it is now ten years since anyone died from scarlet fever in the County; it is four years since a case of diphtheria occurred in a child under fifteen years of age and no case of smallpox has occurred in children for the past eleven years. During the year the number of deaths from tuberculosis was 8 for each 100,000 of the popula- tion as compared with 56 twenty years ago for the same imit of people. On the other hand, during the year 1957 there was an increased incidence in poliomyelitis. In the whole of the County there were 380 cases notified and, of these, 114 occurred in the Borough of Maidstone and the three surrounding Riu'al Districts during the months June to October. During the year steady progress was made in offering vaccination against poliomyehtis to children within the age groups specified by the Ministry of Health but the supply of vaccine was never enough to meet all demands. The acceptance rate for vaccination against poliomyelitis has been high in the County ever since the first offer was made in 1956. Because it is not known exactly how many children there are in each age group, it is not possible to say with precision the percentages of registrations but from using figures that are available, e.g., birth rates, as a basis of calculation, it would appear that the number of consents given by parents is approximately equal to 76% of all children eligible. 52.3% of children under the age of fifteen received a course of immunisation against diphtheria during the year and this level is approximately the same as that obtaining in the previous two years. On the other hand, the number of children imder one year of age who were vaccinated against smallpox showed an increase to 65.37%, this being the highest figure ever recorded and considerably in excess of the national average. It is worth recording that the main reliance in advocating these vaccinating and immunising procedures is placed upon propaganda conducted by word of mouth and that little use is made of printed material by way of posters, pamphlets, etc. The high acceptance rates for these procedures is a tribute to the effectiveness of the educational work done by medical officers, health visitors, midwives and nurses. The Domestic Help Service continued to increase during the year, particularly in the provision of services for old people and an increasing use was made of the three developments of this service, i.e., evening and night services for old people, the Family Help Service and the Child Help Service, which commenced on the 1st April, 1957, to provide rehabihtation for problem families. I have in previous reports described the operation of all these services except that of the Child Help Service, which was commenced on an experimental basis for a period of twelve months. Its success has been such that it is now being incorporated as a regular part of the Committee’s services and it has achieved a substantial measure of success in the rehabilitation of problem famdies. A full description of the service appears on page 21.