Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the Colony on the public health ... / Cape of Good Hope.

  • Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). Department of Public Health.
Date:
[1908]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the Colony on the public health ... / Cape of Good Hope. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    occurred in the year 1908. On the other hand, among the Coloured, a marked increase has taken place in the proportion of Deaths from Tuberculosis to all Deaths at all ages from 17.5 in 1903 to 19.4 in 1908, although in the interval it has fluctuated considerably. This increase has affected the age periods over five years. In considering the above yearly comparisons it must be borne in mind, especially when dealing with numbers, that for the year 1908 93 Chief Towns are included, while for each of the years 1904 to 1907 60 Chief Towns, and for the year 1903 35 Chief Towns are included. I may add that, in the year of the Census, 1904, which may be taken as a land mark, the rate of mortality from Tuberculosis per thousand of the popu¬ lation was, for Europeans, 1.53 and for Coloured, 6.58. MARRIAGES. Although Marriage statistics are intimately associated with those of Births and Deaths, this is the first occasion on which information derived from the regis¬ tration of Marriages has been included in my Annual Report. As before stated, this work was transferred to this Department in November, 1908. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to prepare very useful statistics, owing to the circumstance that hitherto the Race of the contracting parties has not been recorded in the Marriage Register, and only in a proportion of Marriages have their exact ages been given. However, steps were recently taken to obviate this omission, and on the 21st May last the approval of His Excellency the Governor was obtained to the use of a form of “ Duplicate Marriage Register,” which provides for the recording both of the Race and the Age at last birthday of each of the contracting parties. This amended form of Register has now been issued to Marriage Officers throughout the Colony, and it is satisfactory to note that these officers have every¬ where recognised the importance of the grounds for the change and they are now fully recording these particulars, so that, in future, much useful information will be available from these statistics. Number of Marriages Solemnised. The following Table 12 shews for a period of Sixteen years, that is, from 1893 to 1908, both inclusive, the number of Marriages solemnised in each year and in each month and in each quarter of the year. In the year 1903 the largest number of Marriages was registered, namely, 12,219 ; but since then this number has steadily decreased, until in 1908 the total number was only 9,446, the diminution between the years 1907 and 1908 thus amounting to 1,108. Thus, in five years the number of Marriages solemnised has fallen by 2,773, or 22.7 per cent. It is not possible to attempt any explanation as to the cause of this without having information as to the Race of the contracting parties and of the population generally. It is a noteworthy fact that the number of Births has not fallen during this period, although in some of the Urban Areas it has practically remained station¬ ary. That the migration of the European population, probably chiefly of the unmarried males, has something to do with it is not improbable, but to what extent it is impossible to .surmise. Table 12.—Showing the Number of Marriages Solemnised in each Month of each of the last Sixteen Years. Month. 1893 1894'1895 11896 11897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904. Census Year. 1905 1906 1907 1908 1893-1908 Jan. 533 582 589 592 530 695 687 764 684 800 894 815 937 963 859 751 11,675 Feb. . 508 513 586 542 594 709 611 565 553 815 946 979 867 843 693 711 11,035 March •• 550 570' 583 672 752 767 683 600 577 899 1,052 957 848 828 769 846 11,953 Total 1,591 1,665 1,758 1,806 1,876 2,171 1,981 1,929 1,814 2,514 2,892 2,751 2,652 2,634 2,321 2,308 34,663 April . 692 627 781 698 719 849 833 729 824 1.207 1.078 1,203 962 1,096 1,097 816 14,211 Mav . 744 649 624 657 717 867 797 770 753 895 944 1,197 969 935 867 773 13,158 June . . 584 569 641 708 720 687 682 710 813 969 1,143 1,042 820 882 800 931 12,701 Total 2,020 1,845 2,046 2.063 2,156 2,403 2,312 2.209 2,390 3,071 3,165 3,442 2,751 2,913 2,764 2,520 40,070 July 559 603 665] 711 679 726 722 825 959 1.132 1,028 949 815 978 981 734 13.057 Aug. . 612 542 161 645 788 728 724 703 874 1,035 1,012 1,122 869 865 805 778 12,658 Sept-. . . • • 508 579 m 715 754 1 719 732 774 903 1,128 1,120 922 815 866 954 815 12,898 Total • • 1,670 1,724 1,840 2,071 2,201 2,168 2,178 2,302 2,736 3,295 3,160 2,993 2,499 2,709 2,740 2,327 38,613 Oct. 618 6631 573- 625 692 672 825 869 864 1,086 1.036 1,031 932 1,019 945 768 13,218 Nov. . 495 496i 464: 606 737 659 620 672 803 996 933 907 816 761 762 686 11,413 Dec. 498 612: 679, 690, 784 650 621 760 945 1,217 1,033 902 892 1,016 1,022 837 13,158 Total 1,611 1,7714,716 1,921 2,213 1,981 2,066 2,301 2,612 3,299 3,002 2,840 2,640 2,796 2,729 2,291 37,789 Grand Total 6,8921 1 7,005 7,360 7,861 8,446 8,723 8,537 8,741 9,552 12179 12219 12,026 10542 11052 10554 9,446 151,135 Note.—Bechuanaland Registers included from 16th November, 1895.