ENG-1956 — Page 161

PUBLIC HEALTH

127

ary. The following table gives the statistics of births and deaths for the last five years:

Births

Birth-Rate per 1,000 of population

Death-Rate

Deaths

per 1,000 of population

1952......

71,976

32

19,459

8.6

1953......

75,544

33.6

18,300

8.1

1954......

83,317

36.6

19,283

8.5

1955....

90,511

38.7

19,080

8.2

1956

96,746

39.7

19,295

7.9

The maternal mortality rate in 1956 was 0.90 per 1,000 births, compared with 1.16 per 1,000 births in 1955, and 1.24 in 1954. The infant mortality rate was 60.9 per 1,000 live births, compared with 66.4 per 1,000 in 1955, and 72.4 in 1954. The infant mortality rate has fallen steadily since the war and, if the war years are excluded, over the last 26 years. The neo-natal mortality, or number of children dying in the first month of life, was 2,342, giving a neo-natal mortality rate of 24.2 per 1,000 live births. The number of still births was 988, giving a pre-natal mortality rate of 10.2 per 1,000 live births.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

The table at Appendix XIII sets out in detail the returns of communicable diseases notified during the year as com- pared with 1955, including the mortality due to those diseases. Certain of these diseases call for some specific comment.

Bacillary Dysentery. While notifications of this disease were about the same as those for 1955, deaths ascribed to it decreased markedly and were the lowest recorded since 1946. The incidence shows a peak between the months of May and August. The following table shows the number of cases and deaths in two age groups with figures of the previous five years for comparison.