T. B. and Accidents Responsible
For Over Vi of Alaskan Deaths
Tuberculosis and accidents are
pointed up as Alaska s most im- '
poriant killers in the first de
tailed statistical analysis of the|
Territory's vital statistics follow- I
ing the transfer of the Bureau of
Vital Statistics to the Alaska De-1
partment of Health. April 1. 1949.
In two mimeographed reports
recently released by the Bureau’s
director. Francis E. Kester
“Know Alaska Better through
Facts and Figures” and "Why are
Vital Statistics Important?”—vi
tal statistics from the year 1949
are so analyzed that Territorial
Department of Health officials
find their work mapped out for
them with vivid emphasis.
The reports show that tubercu
losis and accidents accounted for!
more than one third of all deaths
in the Territory in 1949. Tuber
culosis accounted for 19.5 percent
of the total and accidents 16 per
cent. In the United States as a
whole, these two causes were re
sponsible for less than 10 percent
of the deaths in 1948. Tubercu
losis claimed only 3 percent of
lives lost in that year, while ac
cidents took 6.8 percent.
Motor vehicles accidents were
responsible for 25 of the 189 ac-1
181.6 Alaska tuberculosis deatl
rate for 1949 appears monstroui
beside the 1948 rate of 30 in tht
States, but a comparison of tht
U. S rate with that of the nativt
population alone would mark tht
problem as 12 to 15 times as greai
as that in the States. Alaska's in
fant death problem is also showr
in the statistical break-down b>
race to be mainly among race:
other than white. The medical at
tendance record for births in the
Territory was good on the whole
but the lack was starkly revealec
in many outlying districts. In tht
Kotzebue-Barrow area, for in
stance, physicians officiated a1
only 14 out of 138 births. In the
Nome area, they delivered 65 out
of 189 babies. The Nulato anc
Bethel areas also showed mort
nurses, midwives, and "others’
delivering babies than physicians
In contrast, only 6 babies out oi
995 born in the Anchorage-Palm
er area were not delivered b}
physicians.
These birth statistics also focus
attention on the growth of tht
Territory. The 1949 ratio of three
births to every death gives evi
dence of a healthy populatior
growth Of the 3,518 births regis-,
tered in Alaska for 1349. Use An- j
chorage- Palmer area was credi
ted with 995. or 28 percent of the
I total The birth rate in this area , I
(number of births per 1000 popu-1
iationt is most identical with that
of the Territory as a whole-27.8, i
More Boys Than Girls
The birth figures also reveal an
excess of male births over female. I
Perhaps Nature feels that Alaska
is still a man’s world. In 1949. at
least, boys outnumbered girls by
1 exactly 200.
These facts gathered from vital
statistics records when combined
with data by local areas point
, out the spots v. here public health
work will save the most lives.
“The dramatic conquests of the
, “killers” of youth in the States i
. were made by obtaining the facts,
tor each problem, and then turn
l ing the health services to work
on them,” says Vital Statistics
Director Kester.
“The same can be done for
Alaska-with better reporting of ■
births, deaths, and causes of sick
ness; beter diagnosis to get the
true causes of death: and beter
. analysis of the facts to direct the
public health program in the
. right direction.”
’ | __
BE IT A MIDGET—-be it a whale,
put it in classifieds, under FOR
i i SALE.
Hi
cident deaths in the Teritory dur
ing 1949. Chalked up to aircraft
accidents were 18 deaths, and 49
to drowning.
Alaskans Relatively Young
That the Alaskan population
is relatively young in comparison
with that of the States is demon
strated in a comparison of deaths
from the “Killers” of the advan
ced age, five of which were re
sponsible for nearly two-thirds of
the deaths in the U. S. population.
Heart disease, cancer, and cere
bral hemmorrage claimed less
than half as many lives on a per
centage basis in Alaska as they
did in the States.
Suicides, homicides, and alco
holism were causes listed for 6.8
percent of the deaths in Alaska—
the same percent as the acident
toll in the States. By these criter
ia of instability, Alaska’s popu
lation compares untavorably with
the rest of the country, wnere
only 1.9 percent of the 1948
deaths were attributed to them.
Alaska’s 47.5 deaths of infants
under 1 year for every 1000 live
births in 1949 didn't compare too
favorably with the remarkable
decline in infant mortality re
vealed in U. S. rates, which were
in the low thirties for the years
1946-1948.
However, these same statisical
analyses not only point out the
overall health problems; they al
so point to the areas and the
peoples where the problems exist.
For the purposes of reporting vi
tal statistics, 16 local areas were
set up in Alaska. Palmer and the
Matanuska Valley are in the An
chorage-Palmer District, which
includes the U. S. Commissioners’
recording districts and Commis
sioners’ precincts for Anchorage,
Talkeetna, Wasilla, and Palmer.
Native Problems
Breakdowns of the population
on the basis of race give even
more information about where to
attack the mos important “kil
lers” in Alaska. The tuberculo
sis problem is highlighted among
the native races, particularly the
Eskimo race. Of Alaskas 230 tu
berculosis deaths in 1949, only
22 were recorded for white per
sons-less than 10 percent. The
******************************f I
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Phone 62-J-3
i
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PAINTING CONTRACTORS
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523 Fourth Ave., Anchorage Phone 22051
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LITTLE SUSITNA LODGE
17
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