INFANT DEATH-RATE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3012, 24 February 1917, Page 10

INFANT DEATH-RATE

UNEASINESS UNNECESSARY.. Some observations on the statistics of tho infant death-rate in New Zealand were made by Dr. Truby King at yesterday's sitting of the Conference of the Socioty for the Health of Women and Children. He thought tho statistics as recently published without explanation might give rise to some uneasiness. Tho figures seemed to leavo the death-rate for-Auckland and Dunedin unusually high.. Statistics of tho kind' always had to bo considered over a reasonable period/ because there wero always fluctuations. When a deathrate "rose the reason was almost invariably an avoidable cause, but it could only bo avoided by training the mothers to deal with epidemics. Special vigilance was needed in hot seasons. As the mothers gained more knowledge, the death-rate in tbo most unfavourable year would approximate more to the rate in the most favourable year. The best guide to tho true position was to take the figures over a five-years period, in this case from 1912 to 1916, which showed tho death-rate to be:— Auckland 6.'| Wellington 6-6 - ChristcKurch ..•' 6.3 Dunedin 5.8 The death-rate had been going .down steadily, and'this was due largely to the good work of the Plunket Societies., The death-rate for the whole of New Zealand was not yet available, hut it should bo at least as favourable as last year's rate. _