AnnualReport-1927 — Page 280

# 17. BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION

The General Registration Office established by Ordinance No. 7 of 1896, as amended by Ordinance No. 26 of 1923, for registration of both births and deaths is situated at the Sanitary Department Head Office, Post Office Building.

At this office all non-Chinese births and deaths must be registered. Chinese are required to register in the district within which the birth or death occurred. A list of such district registries for births and deaths respectively is appended. Yaumati, Nos. 2 and 7 Police Stations are available for registration of deaths on Sundays and Public Holidays only, when the General Registration office is closed. The Head of the Sanitary Department is ex officio Registrar and has appointed the Police officers in charge of stations, the Inspector in charge of Kowloon Disinfecting Station and the principal clerks in charge of Dispensaries on the appended list as assistant registrars.

Death registration, being a necessary preliminary to burial is almost universal but there is considerable ignorance of the law among Chinese as regards registering of births. As a proof of this it may be pointed out that the records of registered midwives show a total of 8,124 births, whereas only 7,500 births were actually registered during the year. Female births in particular are frequently not registered. This is no doubt due to the presence of a large fluctuating population wholly unaccustomed to the system.

Appendix P shows the ratio of Certified and Uncertified deaths.

### DEATHS REGISTRATION OFFICES

Sanitary Department, Head Office.
Kowloon Disinfecting Station.
Shaukiwan Police Station.
Aberdeen Police Station.
No. 7 Police Station.
No. 2 Police Station.
Kowloon City Police Station.
Sham Shui Po Police Station.
Stanley Police Station.
Yaumati Police Station.