Report of the Medical Officer of Health / Municipality of Colombo.

  • Colombo (Sri Lanka). Public Health Department
Date:
[1923]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Medical Officer of Health / Municipality of Colombo. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    33/82 (page 21)
    XXX.—Infant Mortality. Total deaths 1,929 ; death-rate 271 per thousand births as against the average rate during the previous ten years of 254. Out of 7,107 children born alive, 475 or 7 per cent, died within the first week, 786 or 11 per cent, died within the first month, 1,567 or 22 per cent, died within the six months, 1,929 or 27 per cent, died within the first year. Out of the 1,929 total deaths, 480 or 25 per cent, died of convulsions, 460 or 24 per cent, died of atrophy and debility, 213 or 12 per cent, died of diarrhoea, 203 or 11 per cent, died of premature birth, 194 or 10 per cent, died of pneumonia. As the above statement shows, the principal causes of death were convulsions, atrophy, and debility, diarrhoea, premature birth, and pneumonia. Convulsions.—323 or 67 per cent, of the deaths from this cause occurred in the first three months of life. Convulsions are due to a variety of causes ; some of them are ante-natal and beyond our control; the other causes are prolonged labour, neglect of the child in the early days due to ignorance, inexperience, or carelessness of the mother, constipation, improper feeding, &c. Of the 475 deaths in the first week, 313 or 66 per cent, were due to premature birth and debility, and of the 786 deaths in the first month 449 or 57 per cent, were due to the same causes, so that it will be seen that the high mortality in the first week and first month is mainly due to premature birth and debility, causes which are preventable to a great extent. The excessive mortality from these two causes is undoubtedly due to the insanitary conditions under which the mother lives, her poverty, which implies insufficient and poor quality of food, employment during pregnancy, very early weaning, and improper feeding of the child. The high mortality from diarrhoeal diseases is chiefly due to artificial feeding with unsuitable substitutes for human milk, and also to infection of the child’s food by flies, or dirty feeding bottles, pacifiers, and to the dirty conditions under which the child is brought up. The mortality from pneumonia is due to living in stuffy, ill-ventilated rooms where fresh air and sunlight cannot penetrate, exposure, and to feeble vitality. In Colombo the two most important factors in the causation of a high infant mortality are, (1) the wretched housing conditions of the poor, (2) poverty which compels the pregnant mother to work practically up to the last week of pregnancy and soon after the birth of the child, and which drives her to feed her child on cheap, unsuitable foods which alone she can afford to purchase. (27) Infant Mortality, 1923, by Wards. Average, Bate per 1,000 Births. Ward. Colombo Fort Pettali San Sebastian St. Paul’s Kotahena Mutwal New Bazaar Maradana North Maradana South Dematagoda Slave Island Kollupitiya Cinnamon Gardens Bambalapitiya Timbirigasyaya W ellawatta Hospitals 1913 to 1922. 254 279 340 349 392 262 356 297 278 209 202 137 1923. 271 Increase or Decrease. + 17 —279 (28) Infant Mortality, 1923, All causes Premature birth Atrophy and debility Bronchitis Pneumonia Diarrhoeal Convulsions Tetanus All other causes All Races. 271 ■ 28 ■ 65 ■ 10 , 27 , 30 , 67 . 1 . 43 ■ Europeans 65 21 11 11 22 • • 400 • « • + 60 • * 339 • • • — 10 • • • 455 • • « + 63 i [318) 1279 J •302 + 40 i • » 402 ... + 46 (378) ... 305 325 « « • + 28 1296J ... 346 • . . + 68 1 [231] 1215J 227 ... + 18 (196) ... 243 208 . . « + 6 ll92J « • • 167 . « • + 30 1923, by Races. Rate per 1,000 Births. Burghers. Sinhalese. Tamils Moors. Malays. Others. . 180 ... 254 ... 354 331 294 ... 313 • 10 ... 37 - 22 • • • 11 ... 4 ... 21 • 30 ... 52 ••• 108 • • • 93 — 106 ... 90 . 15 8 ... 15 ... 15 ... — ... 7 . 24 ... 28 ... 22 ... 31 ... 41 35 . 30 ... 28 ... 30 . • . 36 ... . 49 ... 42 . 43 ... 52 ... 114 . « . 118 ... 53 • • • 69 1 ... 3 • • • ~ ..« 4 • • • 7 *. 28 ... 48 -. 40 ... 27 ... 37 ... 42 XXXI.—Infectious Diseases. The following statement shows the number of cases of each of the notifiable diseases reported during each month of the year.