[Report 1956] / Medical Officer of Health, Arundel Borough.

  • Arundel (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1956
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1956] / Medical Officer of Health, Arundel Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    England and Wales Numbers of Deat] Is from certain Infectious Diseases Disease 1900-1910 (Annual Average) 1947 1955 Tuberculosis Diarrhoea, etc. Whooping Cough Influenza Diphtheria Scarlet Fever Typhoid and Paratyphoid Poliomyelitis 56,000 20,000 10,000 7,000 6,000 5,600 5,000 25,000 6,000 900 5,000 242 42 29 688 6,500 1,000 88 2,900 15 21 15 270 TOTALS 105,600 55,901 10,807 England and Wales Number of Deaths attributed to some of the principal causes. 1947 1952 1955 Increase Diseases of heart and circulatory system 164,000 182,000 192,000 + 28,000 Cancer (all sites) (Lung Cancer 78,000 10.661 86,000 14.200 89,000 17.200 + 11,000 + 6.600) Vascular lesions of nervous system 58,000 69,000 74,000 + 16,000 Tuberculosis 25,000 10,500 6,500 (- 16,500) Home Accidents 4,700 5,226 6,651 + 2,000 Road Accidents 4,415 4,117 4,923 + 500 Over the years 1947 to 1955 the death rate has not altered perceptibly (11.7 to 11.8 per thousand) - the same number of people die, but they don't die in infancy so much, they don't die of childhood infections so much, but they do die eventually - as they must. They die older, and cancer is a disease of older people. As fewer ohildren die in infancy, more survive to die from burns and scalds; as more people escape Tuberculosis - more die of Cancer of the Lung. There can be no doubt that statistical evidence points very strongly to a connection between heavy cigarette smoking and lung cancer, and anyone who smokes should know of this and decide whether he is prepared to take any action himself. Whether the evidence is such as to justify repressive action against smoking is a matter of opinion.