demographic yearbook annuaire demographique 1951

pared with areas having low mortality. Infectious and parasitic
diseases (mostly tuberculosis and the associated pneumonia),
diarrhea and enteritis, and puerperal infections are
the leading causes of death in areas where general mortality
is high. In contrast, in areas where general mortality is low,
degenerative diseases (mostly heart diseases), cancer and
accidents take the lead among the causes of death:
To simplify the discussion of mortality by cause, a selection
of 25 countries for which data are shown in table 23
have been grouped in accordance with the size of the
aggregate mortality rate (per 100,000 population) for all
infectious and parasitic diseases combined, as follows:
I. Rates oj less than 100 per 100,000
Denmark 36 Netherlands 65
New Zealand. . . .. 40 Norway. . . . . . . . .. 66
Australia. . . . . . . .. 47 United Kingdom.. 69
United States 50 Switzerland 73
Canada 57 Belgium 74
Union of South Africa:
Europeans. . . . .. 59
II. Rates of 100 to 199 per 100,000
Italy 104 Berlin 144
France 119 Spain 157
Austria 121 Hong Kong. .. . .. 178
Ireland 128 Finland 190
III. Rates oj 200 or more per 100,000
Portugal. . . . . . .. 207 Puerto Rico. . .. 248
Japan 230 Dominican
Colombia 239 Republic 261
El Salvador. . . . .. 318
The distribution of deaths among the most important
causes (which together account for about 90 per cent of all
deaths) varies widely among these three groups of Countries,
as is shown in table H. The causes listed in the upper
part of this table make up a much smaller proportion of
all deaths in countries with low mortality than in countries
with high mortality. The three causes listed in the lower
part of the table show an inverse relationship, being responsible
for a high proportion of all deaths in the former
countries and a low proportion in the latter countries. Sex
differences within each group are most significant in the
mortality from senility, intracranial lesions, etc. and from
accidents.
Similar patterns of difference are found among these
three groups of countries when the rates for the same causes
of death (with some added detail for deaths by violence)
are compared. Thus, table I shows that deaths from infectious
and parasitic diseases are twice as frequent in
Group III as in Group II and nearly four times as frequent
as in Group I. (It is interesting to note that about
two-thirds of all deaths ascribed to the infectious and parasitic
diseases are caused by tuberculosis alone). Diarrhea
and enteritis show still more marked differences of the same
type. A similar relationship appears in the mortality rates
from pneumonia, puerperal causes and homicide. The rates
for senility and ill-defined causes, which follow the same
pattern, reflect deficiencies in the reporting of specific causes
rather than actual differences in mortality (see detailed
discussion in Chapter II).
In contrast to the foregoing, the mortality rates from
heart disease, cancer, diabetes, suicide and accidents (all
forms) increase from the Group III to the Group I countries
in spite of the decrease in general mortality. Heart disease
in particular tends to become the leading cause in countries
where deaths from infectious diseases and associated causes
are less numerous.
Differences in the pattern of dying lvetween countries
with high mortality and those with low mortality may be
explained in part by differences in the age composition of
the population. In Group I, for example, the reduction of
mortality from infectious diseases has postponed death to
later ages, hence it is to be expected that more people will
die from the so-called "degenerative" diseases, (e.g. heart
trouble, diabetes, cancer). The median age at death from
these diseases ranges between 65 and 70 years of age as
compared with a much younger median age of death from
infectious diseases, or a median age in infancy or early
childhood for deaths from diarrhea and enteritis.
The higher prevalence of accidents in the countries with
low general mortality may be associated with technology
and industrialization. The greater frequency of suicide is
TABLE H
Per cent of deaths from all known causes due to important selected causes and per cent of all deaths
due to ill-defined causes
(Latest available year)
List Group I Group II Group III
Cause of death! Number Male Female Male Female Male Female
Infectious and parasitic......... 1-14 6.4 5.1 11.7 10.0 20.6 19.3
Pneumonia and bronchitis...... 26-27 5.6 5.1 8.6 8.6 9.7 9.2
Diarrhea and enteritis.......... 29 0.8 0.8 23.1 23.1 10.2 10.6
Puerperal and pregnancy....... 35-36 0.6 0.5 1.2
Senility...................... 39 1.7 2.8 5.9 9.2 5.1 8.3
Ill-defined or unknown......... 44 1.3 1.0 3.8 3.5 5.8 5.7
Intracranial and nervous....... 22-23 9.0 12.4 11.4 13.3 9.6 10.5
Nephritis and urinary.......... 33-34 5.8 5.0 4.6 3.4 3.7 4.7
Congenital and early infancy.... 38 5.4 4.7 5.2 4.2 7.6 6.5
._._-
--_.-~
Heart and circulatory.......... 24-25 34.2 32.6 19.7 22.7 6.3 7.1
Cancer....................... 15 13.1 16.0 10.3 11.4 4.5 5.8
Accidents..................... 42-43 8.0 4.1 4.9 1.9 5.3 2.5
1 See table 22 for more precise listing of causes.
2 Deaths from diarrhea and enteritis for France, not included.
16