demographic yearbook annuaire demographique 1951

;IS given under the 1929 Revision, by adding to it the number
of deaths attributed to tabes dorsalis.
In other cases, adjustment is more difficult. For example,
in the 1938 Revision, aneurysm of the aorta and its synonyms
were also reclassified as syphilis. Since aneurysm of
the aorta was part of the title aneurysm (except of heart)
in the previous revision, and not shown separately, it is not
possible to determine exactly the number of deaths that
should be transferred to syphilis.
Because of these considerations, it is advisable to make
some provision for preserving or assessing the comparability
of data based on a current revision of the International List
with those based on earlier revisions. It is of course possible
to so regroup the causes into broader divisions that the
effects of revision are eliminated. The disadvantage of this
procedure is that considerable specificity as to causes of
death must be sacrificed. On the other hand, it can be
applied without exact or complete knowledge of the number
of deaths affected by the revision changes.
A more precise method of determining the degree of
comparability of data over two revision periods is to classify
the data for a transition year by the classification procedures
used in each period. The results furnish a basis for computing
comparability ratios which can be used for adjusting
one set of data (usually the earlier set) to make it comparable
with the other.
Medical attendance
The marked variations in the quality and quantity of
medical care make interpretation of medical statistics difficult.
Unfortunately there are no indices available as yet
that permit precise national appraisals of the quality of the
basic information from which cause-of-death statistics are
derived. However, cognizance must be taken of these qualifying
factors in the use of such statistics.
The laws of may countries prescribe that medical certification
must be made by the physician attending at the
last illness, or by the coroner (who is not necessarily a
physician). In some countries, the cause of death is reported
by the person making the declaration of death. Although
it is clearly desirable that the responsibility for certifying
causes of death be borne by a qualified physician, there are
many areas where the availability of medical practitioners
for making such certification is limited.
The importance of this factor is demonstrated in ratios
of population to physicians. Table N gives recent data on
the number of inhabitants per physician for those countries
for which cause-of-death statistics are presented in the present
volume and for which the information is available. For
these countries, ratios of population to physicians range
from a low of 380 to a high of 37,000. In countries where
ratios are high, certification of the cause of death cannot in
all cases be made by a qualified physician. Furthermore,
in most countries, physicians tend to concentrate in urban
areas. Consequently, there are differences in the accuracy of
reports on causes of death even for an individual country.
TABLE N
Number of inhabitants per physician: Selected countries
Country
rear
Inhabitants
per Physician Country rear
Inhabitants
per Physician
AFRICA
Mauritius , 1949
Mozambique , 1949
Sao Tome and Principe , 1949
Union of South Africa. . . 1939
1946
AMERICA, NORTH
Canada , 1950
Dominican Republic. . . . . . . . .. 1950
EI Salvador 1945
Puerto Rico , 1950
United States. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. 1939
1949
Virgin Islands (U.S.). . . . . . . . .. 1948
AMERICA, SOUTH
British Guiana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1949
Colombia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1948
Peru. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1945
Surinam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1949
EUROPE
5,500 Austria...................... 1948
37,000 Belgium..................... 1939
12,000 1950
3,100 Denmark.................... 1948.
2,500 Finland...................... 1938
1948
900 France...................... 1937
3,500 1948
7,000 Iceland...................... 1949
2,600 Luxembourg................. 1949
800 Netherlands.................. 1939
750 1948
2,500 Norway..................... 1939
1948
Portugal..................... 1948
Sweden...................... 1937
4,500
1949
3,350 Switzerland.................. 1937
5,500
1949
2,800
650
1,300
1,060
1,000
2,800
2,200
1,500
1,300
900
1,200
1,300
1,300
1,200
1,000
1,500
2,300
1,600
800
750
ASIA
Ceylon .
Cyprus .
Hong Kong .
Israel .
Japan .
1948
1949
1949
1950
1946
OCEANIA
13,000 Australia.................... 1939
1,300 1945/46
4,000 Hawaii...................... 1949/50
380 New Zealand................. 1938
1,200 1948
1,700
1,600
1,000
1,100
800
Source: Statistical Yearbook of the United Nations, New York, 1951.
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