[Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1959
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/410 (page 8)
    The general death rate again increased to 12-58 because of the increased mortality from respiratory disease associated with the severe weather conditions in January and February. Influenza was also present in the Glasgow area in February, and all but 23 of the 117 deaths occur- red in February and March. The infant mortality remains at 35 per 1,000 births for the third successive year. The number of births was 22,598, a slight decrease on previous years, giving a birth rate of 21-0. The marriage rate was appreciably lower at 8-9 and approximated to the average rate for the period 1921-1930. The number of children who died between the ages of one and five years was 117, the highest figure since 1953 and equiv- alent to a rate of 1-38 per 1,000 of the population in this age group. A further reduction occurred in the city’s population. In spite of a growing excess of births over deaths of some 9,000 in 1959, the Registrar General’s estimate for the end of the year showed a decrease of 2,600 in the total population. This decrease is due mainly to migration outwith the city into adjacent counties and to other areas of Scotland and the United Kingdom, and partly by migration abroad. There was also a redistribution of population within the city, with an increase in the wards south of the river and a decrease in those north of the river. The total number of occupied houses in the city was 326,777, a net increase of 510. The number of empty houses, 3,967, was an increase on the figure for 1958, 3,431. The majority of the empty houses are of one and two apartments and houses in the group of five-apartments and over. Maternal and Child Care. There is still no sign of any marked reduction in the infant mortal- ity rate in Glasgow. The rate has remained in the neighbourhood of 35 since 1955 in spite of the strenuous efforts of the Maternity and Child Welfare Section to secure a reduction. The rate for 1959, 35-4, is slightly in excess of that for 1958. The most prominent causes of death are the diseases of early infancy, particularly prematurity and congenital mal- formations. There were fewer deaths from respiratory disease in 1959, and the rate from this cause fell from 5-36 to 4-25 per 1,000 births. The outstanding weakness in Glasgow is the deficiency in mater- nity hospital accommodation. The Committee on Health and Welfare have continued to urge the Government and the Regional Hospital Board, and plans have been formulated by the Board for new mater- nity hospitals and for the provision of maternity beds in existing