II. PUBLIC HEALTH
VITAL STATISTICS
(See tables 6-11)
6. Both the live birth rate and the crude death rate continued to decline. The latter, at 4.7 per thousand of population, is now one of the lowest in the world and reflects the rapid improvement of medical and health services in a young and expanding population. The total number of live births was the lowest recorded since 1959 and the natural increase was 84,574, over five thousand less than the previous year.
7. The marked improvement in the state of public health in Hong Kong during recent years is reflected by gratifying declines in infant, neo-natal and maternal mortality; changes in the first two of these rates are illustrated in Figure 1.
LOO
FIGURE T
INFANT AND NEONATAL, MORTALITY 1951-1965
1:09
and maternal health services are gradually reducing the dangers of prematurity. As has been the experience in other countries, congenital malformations and other diseases of the new-born are proving more intractable and mortality from these causes has, as yet, been unaffected.
Maternal Mortality
9. Here also the statistics pertaining to Hong Kong are now approaching the standards prevailing in the developed countries of the world. Toxaemias and haemorrhages of pregnancy were the principal fatal complications, but there have been marked reductions in deaths from these causes during recent years. There was a general overall reduction in morbidity of pathological conditions associated with preg- nancy and child birth.
General Mortality
10. The marked social and economic changes which have occurred in Hong Kong during the years following the Second World War are reflected in the mortality trends shown in Figure 2. Improvements in
RATE PER 1,000 LIVE ORDE
INFANT
20
A
D
NEO-NATAL
ના 52 53 54 55
56 57 58
9 10
YEAR
T
1
AKA 2014
吉
R
DE
Q
Infant Mortality
8. The steady decline in infantile mortality has been due to improve- ment in environmental conditions and better control of the preventable diseases of later infancy, particularly of bronchopneumonia, gastro- enteritis and tuberculosis; in addition, improvements in the midwifery
2
SALVIO TVRDNA, JO DVIKOEN
30
FIGURE I
MAJOR TRENDS IN MORTALITY 1920-1965
FLESIĄTEK y
INFECTIOLE
INTELTONAL,
CKNELLA TIHET SYSTEM
INBOFAKTA:
KERYONES BYTTEW
1990 20
*
F1
2 45
$1
+9
YEAL
3