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16
(h) Xeo-Xaial Mortality during the year 1936.

It will be seen from the tables that of the sixty-seven deaths under the age of
one year, no less than thirty-eight were four weeks of age or under, and prematurity
is given as the cause of death in the cases of twelve babies, who died within the first
four weeks of life.
The fact that thirty-eight died within the first month, leaving only twenty-nine
deaths for the remaining eleven months of the first year of life, shows that our chief
problem at the present time is the mortality among the newly born.
Out of the thirty-eight babies who died under the age of one month, no less
than twenty-three died within the first week.
My comments on this table are word for word the same as my comments last
year, save only that necessary alterations have been made in the numbers.
Once more I want to emphasise that of the babies who died under the age o!
one month, more than fifty per cent. died within the first week. There is of coursc
no opportunity in this one week to turn a weak and ailing baby into a strong and
healthy one, and so the only way in which we can attack this problem is by still
further activities in ante-natal work. We must have sufficient workers, not only
to carry out routine work, but also to undertake research and in the forefront of
research must come the problem of nutrition.
It is gratifying to note that the number of deaths from respiratory diseases
(bronchitis and pneumonia) is decreasing.