[Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Banbury Borough.

  • Banbury (Oxfordshire, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, Banbury Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/44
    To the Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Banbury Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, I beg to submit the Annual Report on the 'Health Services of the Borough during 1951. The report is prepared in accordance with the requirements of Circular 42/51 of the Ministry of Health. Vital Statistics. The Birth Rate in the Borough of Banbury in 1951 was 15.6 as compared with 15.5 for England and Wales and 16.4 in Banbury in 1950. The Death Rate was 11.5, as compared with 12.5 for England and Wales and 10.8 in Banbury in 1950. There were 78 deaths from Heart Disease of which 28 were due to Coronary Thrombosis. The next most frequent cause was Cancer with 33 deaths (the same number as in 1950). Elsewhere in the report an analysis is given according to the site of the disease. It is interesting to note that in 1951 the lung was the commonest site and that 9 deaths occurred from Cancer of the Lung while there were only 6 deaths from Pulmonary Tubercu- losis. Next in the list is Vascular Disease of the Nervous System (Cerebral Haemorrhage, etc.) with 30. There were 17 deaths from Pneumonia. The outbreak of Influenza in the early part of 1951 caused 10 deaths. The Infant Mortality Rate in 1951 was one of the lowest recorded in the Borough so far. Only three infant deaths occurred (all of them under 4 weeks) giving an Infant Mortality Rate of 10.49. Housing. Housing is still the most important and the most difficult public health problem in the Borough. As stated elsewhere in the report, as soon as circumstances permit it will be necessary to deal with several clearance areas as well as many individual unfit hou.ses. At present it is only possible to deal with cases where the tenants are being re-housed; whenever an unfit house is vacated an opportunity is taken to deal with it under Housing Act 1936, Sec. 11. Overcrowding is a serious problem and there are many cases where there are two and three families living in small houses.