[Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Dublin City.

  • Dublin (Ireland). City Council
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Dublin City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/156 (page 5)
    PREFACE Municipal Buildings, Castle Street, Dublin 2. To the Manager and Members of the Dublin Health Authority. I have the honour to present the Annual Report on the health of the City and County of Dublin and the Borough of Dun Laogliaire for the year 1968. In addition to the usual material presented the doctors in charge of the other Authority hospitals have written general reports which are included. The number of infants who died in 1968 was considerably fewer than in 1967 and consequently the infantile mortality rate reached a new low level. The causes of death in which the reduction was most marked were respiratory infection, gastro enteritis and con- genital malformation. It will be remembered that in 1967 a new pathogenic E. Coli 0111 was responsible for most of the deaths due to gastro enteritis. This organism was less common in 1968 and produced a much milder form of disease. One of the causes of congenital malformation is the occurrence of rubella in early pregnancy. It is of interest that rubella reached epidemic proportions in the city and later in the county from the Spring of 1966 to mid 1967. In 1967 the deaths from congenital mal- formation were more than 50% above normal. It is also of interest that in 1968, the number of infants referred for suspected hearing loss was 30% greater than in 1967. It will be noticed from the figures of deaths from cancer of the lung that the number has increased by 55% in ten years. The danger to health from cigarette smoking has been stressed time and time again in scientific reports, press articles, lectures and pronouncements by prominent medical men. The only group who appear to have taken the warnings to heart are the medical men themselves. It is now rare to find a doctor who smokes cigarettes. Some years ago a comparison was made between smoking habits in Dublin and in Belfast, Liverpool, Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki. It was found that the women of Dublin were heavier smokers and more of them smoked than in the other cities. The trend to heavier smoking was particularly noticeable in the 40-60 age group. It is a fact that the present level of cigarette smoking in Ireland was reached only about 25 years ago. As cancer of the lung takes a number of years to develop, a further increase in the disease is anticipated.