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Bad housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, low standards of
education, all tend to produce higher Infant Mortality Rates. It
follows, therefore, that the Infant Mortality Rate should provide a
good index to the social circumstances of any particular area.
However, Infant Mortality Rates which are based on the
number of births occurring in the same year as the infant deaths are
not comparable year by year unless the birth rates remain more or
less constant, as approximately one-third of the infants dying in any
one year will be found to have been born in the previous year.
Consequently care must be exercised when drawing conclusions
from any rise or fall in Infant Mortality Rates.
Despite the remarkable fall in recent years of infant mortality,
the hard core of neo-natal deaths shows little decline, probably
indicating a different approach to that which proved so effective in
reducing the overall infant mortality rate.
REMARKS ON VARIOUS DEATH CAUSES.
Recognising the importance of ensuring as far as possible the
uniformity and comparability of statistics in relation to diseases and
causes of death, the Registrar-General has, from 1st January, 1950,
implemented the Nomenclature Regulations, 1948, as suggested by
the World Health Organisation. Although these regulations are
not binding on Medical Officers of Health, it is essential that the
International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and
Causes of Death, 1948, should be adopted in order that local
statistics can be compared with national figures and national
with international.
As a result of the adoption of the new classification, it may not
be possible accurately to compare all previous figures with those of
the current year.