Nutrition
Deaths from beriberi have shown a remarkable drop from 7,229 in 1940 to 312 in 1947, 140 in 1948, 100 in 1949, and 39 in 1950. This improvement is probably due to the mixed diet which the mass of the population was forced to eat due to shortage of rice during and following the war and to the increased wages paid to the lower wage groups in recent years.
Vital Statistics
Year
Births
Deaths
1946
31,098
16,653
1947
42,473
13.231
1948
47,475
13,434
1949
54,774
16,287
1950
60,600
18,465
Infant Mortality
As for the previous year, the death of infants under one year of age formed almost exactly one third of deaths for all ages.
Year
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
Pre-Natal Mortality
Died under 1 year of age
2.770
4,346
4,324
5,444
6.037
Mortality rate
89.1
102.3
91.1
99.4
99.6
The pre-natal mortality rate was 22.2 per 1,000 live births which is the lowest figure since 1946.
Year
Stillbirths
Stillbirth rate
1946
685
21.6
1947
1,348
30.8
1948
1,251
25.7
1949
1,321
23.5
1950
1,343
22.2
Neo-Natal Mortality
The numbers of deaths of children under 4 weeks have been as follows:
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
Number of deaths
1,001
1,463
1,433
1,609
1,819
Neo-natal mortality rate
32.2
34.4
30.2
29.4
30.0
Notifiable Diseases
(a) "Convention Diseases":
During the year 1 case of smallpox was reported but there is
reason to doubt the diagnosis.
No case of yellow fever, plague,
cholera, or epidemic typhus was reported.
56