Death rates in the 20th century fever, polio, measles, hepatitis among others. However, war, genocide and Holocausts have led to many millions of deaths throughout the century, and late in the century AIDS had already killed millions, particularly in Africa and south-east Asia. Cancer also killed millions via lifestyle and pollution generated by increased work in factories. During the 20th century, an enormous improvement in public health led to an overall decrease in death rates. Infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates have dramatically decreased. In the early 1900s, 6-9 women died in pregnancy-related complications for every 1,000 births, while 100 infants died before they were
Catholic Church in the 20th century into the 20th century, Catholics—even if no longer resorting to persecution—still defined Protestants as heretics. Thus, Hilaire Belloc - in his time one of the most conspicuous speakers for Catholicism in Britain - was outspoken about the "Protestant heresy". He also defined Islam as "A Christian heresy", on the grounds that Muslims accept many of the tenets of Christianity but deny the godhood of Jesus (see Hilaire Belloc#On Islam). In the second half of the century - and especially in the wake of Vatican II - the Catholic Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, no longer referred to Protestantism as