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37
GRAPH C. Percentage of total Annual deaths occurring
under the age of 1 year recorded at 5 year intervals.
The graph shows that up to the year 1900 approximately
40 out of 100 deaths occurring in Friern Barnet, i.e. 2 out of 5,
were infants not yet aged one year.
In 1964, 1 only out of each 100 deaths in the
District was of an infant and 74% occurred in men and women over
the age of 65. The killing diseases of infancy then were chiefly
the diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia which were no resnectors of
class or person. Few families of any size had not suffered such
a loss.
A factor not shown in this graph is the present
phenomenally low death rate between the ages of 1 and This
means that having survived the first year of life there is now a
veiy great expectation of living to 65 years or more. In fact
in 1964 only 1% of the total deaths occurred between the ages of
1 and 25.
In the early days not only was there a high infantile
death rate but the loss of young lives from Tuberculosis and other
infections meant that possibly only half the babies born lived to
maturity.
Of tremendous importance to the nation is this survival
to maturity of 90 to 95% of children born, in contrast to the survival
of only approximately 50% up to the year 1900.
When one considers that Sir Winston Churchill, born
90 years ago, was a premature infant and greatly 'at risk', one
realises how many great men and women must have been lost to the
nation and to the world by this tragic loss of young life.
Surely it is a heartening thought that, whatever
potential for greatness exists in the nation, it now has the
opportunity to mature and declare itself.