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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 for approximately one-third of the infants dying
in any one year will be found to have been born in the previous
year.
Again, it must be borne in mind that when dealing with small
figures the slightest deviation in the number of deaths tends to
misleading fluctuations in the rate.
Consequently care must be exercised when drawing conclusions
from any rise or fall in Infant Mortality Rates.
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 bo adoptod 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
bo possible accurately to compare all previous figures with those of
the current year.