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7
Male Female
Influenza 1 3
Measles 0 1
Acute poliomyelitis 2 1
Acute encephalitis 0 1
Cancer of mouth and
oesophagus (M), and
uterus (F) 11 20
Cancer of stomach 28 25
Cancer of breast 0 40
Cancer of other sites 119 116
Diabetes 0 5
Intra-cran. lesions 71 130
Male Female
Other digestive diseases 27 15
Nephritis 25 22
Puerperal sepsis 0 0
Other maternal causes 0 2
Premature birth 5 9
Cong. malformations,
etc 32 26
Suicide 6 9
Road traffic accidents 9 1
Other violent causes 16 19
All other causes 78 62
All causes 922 915
The number of deaths, 1,837, is a slight increase on the figure of
1,834 for each of the two previous years, though because of the slightly
larger population the death rate was no higher, being 8.4 per 1,000
population compared with figures of 9.3, 9 0, 8.6 and 8.5 for the years
since 1944, and with a figure of 10.8 for the country as a whole.
Infant Mortality. The infant mortality rate is the death rate per
1,000 births of infants under one year of age. It has been accepted as a
delicate index not merely of the adequacy or efficiency of those services
dealing particularly with the welfare of the child, but of the social or
sanitary state of the community. The causes of the deaths in the early
days of life are so very different from those which cause the deaths of
those even up to the age of 12 months, that those occurring before the
infants have attained the age of one month are separately classified as
neo-natal deaths, and the number expressed as a rate per 1,000 births is
the neo-natal mortality rate. The main causes of death at this time of
life are congenital malformations, prematurity, birth injuries, asphyxia
and infection. Prevention of the deaths due to causes such as birth
injury or asphyxia is very largely an obstetrical problem. Losses due to
prematurity are difficult to control as only in half of the cases does there
seem to be any cause for the onset of early labour, though there is the
possibility that improvement in the general condition of health of the
mother might result in a reduction. A number of those born prematurely
must almost inevitably die because the infant is functionally incapable
of a separate existence. Many of the remainder, however, can be saved
by the special attention now being given to such infants. The effects
of birth injury and such factors as bring about the deaths in the early
days steadily decline as the child survives, and infections appear as the
main cause of death, being responsible for most of the losses for the
remainder of the year. The dramatic fall in the infant mortality rate
which has taken place in this country during this century has been
brought about chiefly by a reduction in the deaths of those between the
ages of one and 12 months. The death rates amongst those of these ages
were high in places where the housing was poor, where premises were
overcrowded, where sanitation was defective, and particularly if these
factors were associated with maternal ignorance and neglect.