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Statistical information in this report refers to the calendar year 1965.
Introductory Remarks.
I. GENERAL
1. The period under review, April 1955 to March 1956, has again been one of sustained effort against ever increasing pressure of work but has been marked by definite progress and achievement. Nowhere has there been any slackening off and nearly all sub-departments report still further increases in activity and, where the limits of capacity and endurance have been reached, describe an ever increasing demand which they are unable to meet.
General Notes on the Health of the Colony,
2. Once again the Colony remained entirely free of the six major internationally quarantinable diseases, namely, cholera, plague, smallpox, relapsing fever, typhus and yellow fever. There was a slight rise in the number of communicable diseases notified as compared with 1954 but fewer deaths from those causes. The situation in regard to typhoid fever is particularly encouraging, the number of cases notified during 1955 being the lowest recorded since 1950, and the number of deaths, 58, is the lowest figure recorded since 1946. There is still a disappoint- ingly high incidence and mortality, particularly amongst young children, from tuberculosis, diphtheria, both primary and secondary pneumonias and gastro-enteritis. Following the definite halt to the steadily rising incidence of diphtheria reported last year, 1955 has seen a substantial decrease in both cases notified and mortality from this disease following the intensive mass immunization campaigns of the past three years. Tuberculosis, however, continues to be the major health problem and while the present economic conditions and gross over- crowding continue, there is little prospect of achieving any substantial improvement. The death rate from tuberculosis, although falling steadily under modern treatment, is still several times higher than that of the United Kingdom. A distressing