VITAL STATISTICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1926, Page 6

VITAL STATISTICS.

The nummary of the Government Stat-, istician’s report on the vital statistics of the Dominion during 1925, which was published on Wednesday, shows, on the whole, a very favourable position. The death rate of 8.9 per 1000 remained, as in 1924, the lowest on record, and though the birth rate fell to the new low record of 21.17 per 1000, the difference between them leaves a rate of natural increase which few countries exceed. Another outstanding fact is the achievement of a "phenomenally low” rate of infant mortality, the figure having fallen for the first time below 4 per cent, of the year’s total of living births. An improvement is also evident'in the statistics ,of maternal mortality, which lias dropped from 6.48 per 1000 live births in 1920, to 4.65 in 1925, though the latter' rate is still much higher than in some countries. Reviewing further the infant mortality figures, the Statistician points out that nearly two-thirds of that mortality occurred during the first mouth of life and the greater number during the first week. His deduction is that- any further decided improvement in the. general infant deathrate must depend upon the arresting of pre-natal causes which the figures show are fatal in the first month of life, and especially in the first week. In this conclusion he lias the support of infant welfare authorities, official and private, throughout the Dominion. The report shows also the progress made in prolonging adult life. In 1876 there were only 26 deaths of. males at the age of SO and over, equal to 1 per cent, of the total. In 1925 928 of the male deaths were 80 years or over, which is 15 per cent, of the totals. As regards the causes of death, those from cancer maintain their sinister pre-eminence. Though there was a slight decrease in both the number and percentage of deaths from cancer as compared with 1924, the Statistician reports that "one death in every seven of persons over the age of 40 is from cancer.” Small wonder is it-that •science the world over is doing its utmost to remove this scourge of civilisation from our midst.