[Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health, Middleton Borough.

  • Middleton (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health, Middleton Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/76 (page 6)
    Public Health/Health and Welfare Departments, Town Hall, Middleton, M24 4EA. July, 1970 To The Chairman and Members of the Health Committee Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, 1 have pleasure in presenting my Annual Report on the Health of the Borough in 1969. There was again a slight decrease in the Registrar General’s estimate of mid-year population, the total of 57,510 being 350 less than the 1968 estimate. There was again a fall in the Birth Rate, the total of 790 births being 40 less than in 1968, and giving a crude birth rate of 13.7 and an adjusted rate of 13.3 to compare with a national rate of 16.3. The number of deaths (585) was higher than in 1968, giving a crude death rate of 10.2 and an adjusted rate of 15.0 to compare with a national rate of 11.9. The total number of infant deaths was 22, giving an Infant Mortality rate of 28 per 1,000 live births. The inference to be drawn from these figures is that in the absence of further major migratory movement, there may continue to be a gradual decline in population in the next few years, and there have been few more fascinating studies than the changes in the Local Birth Rate over the past 20 years. The total notifications of Infectious Diseases (507) were some 100 lower than in 1968. The incidence of measles (287 cases) was almost exactly as in 1968, but there was a welcome reduction in the cases of Dysentery and Food Poisoning, both of which had given rise to concern in the previous year. While notifications of Infective Jaundice increased sharply, the total of 78 cases cannot be compared directly with previous years, as Ihe disease was not notifiable until 1st June, 1968. As is men¬ tioned in the body of the report (Immunisation—Section B) the present percentage of young infants receiving routine immunisa¬ tion and vaccination in Ihe Boroueh is far from satisfactory. While accepting that a proportion of parents have sincere objection to immunising procedures, it is my opinion that far too few of today’s parents are willing to face un to their responsi¬ bilities in obtaining for their children protection from the more serious and preventable communicable diseases. The functioning of Delegated Jleallh and Welfare Services is fully set out in Part B of this report and I would only com¬ ment upon them briefly here. The long awaited reconstruction