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GENERAL HEALTH CONDITIONS.
VITAL STATISTICS:
The Registrar General's estimate of the population on the
30th June, 1949, was as follows:—
Civilian Population 157,130
Total Population 158,430
It is on the former figure that the vital statistics have been
calculated.
Birth Rate:
The number of live births decreased from 2,292 in 1948
to 2,257 in 1949, giving a birth rate in 1949 of 14.36 per
thousand live births, as compared with 14.65 for the previous
year. The birth rate for the country generally was 17.9 for
1948 and 16.7 for the year under review.
Death Rate:
1,522 deaths were registered, an increase on the previous
year when the number was 1,406. Th crude death rate was
9.69, the corrected death rate having regard to the age and sex
distribution of the population was 10.56 as compared with 11.7
for the country generally.
Infantile Mortality:
The infantile mortality rate, that being the number of
deaths of infants under one year of age as related to the number
of live births registered, was maintained at practically the
same low figure as for the previous year, namely 22 per
thousand live births as compared with 21. The rate for the
country generally was 32 per thousand live births.
The gradual diminution which has taken place in this rate,
and which is illustrated in Table I. below, is largely the result
of better living conditions and an increasing knowledge of
parentcraft and infant care and in this latter connection no
mean contribution has been made by the Local Authority under
its Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme, which originated as
far back as 1918, although in fact voluntary agencies had
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