BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

66 Patternsof Mortalitv in Childhood
population bases may differ from those used
in official reports owing to the availability
of census data at the time of publication of
the Investigation findings and to the methods
employed for estimation of population
under 5 years of age. In all projects except
that in California, non-registered deaths
were included in the data of the Investigation.
Thus differences may be observed
between the official rates for the areas of
projects and those obtained in the Investigation.
These differences are determined in
part by factors affecting official data, such
as deficiencies in registration of births
and/or deaths and inclusion of those of nonresidents
of the areas. Presentation and
discussion of the results of the Investigation
in relation to official rates seems desirable
in order to stimulate action based on these
results.
Death rates in infancy and early childhood
for 1969 or a recent year for eight
countries* in which the projects were car-
ried out are given in the tables of this
section, along with the data obtained in the
Investigation (the coverages of vital statistics
systems in Bolivia and Brazil are not
sufficient for presentation of death rates for
the entire countries). These eight countries
vary widely in the composition of their
urban and rural populations, which affects
the size of the death rates. Also the coverage
and adequacy of the registration systens
need to be considered in relation to the
Investigation findings. When possible, additional
official data for provinces, departmerts,
or states are provided
Argentina
The death rates for the urban, suburban,
and rural departments of the two provinces
* Data provided by the Ministries of Health to the
Pan American Health Organization.
iicluded in the Investigation are given in
Table 20 along with those for the country
as a whole The wide variations in San
Juan Province are clear, the rates for the
rural departments being around twice those
in the city of San Juan. Ir the Chaco
project, the rates were high in both urban
and rural areas.
a r aras
For the country as a whole, mortality in
children under 5 years and in infants (under
1 year) was lower than for these provinces
but higher than that in the city of San Juan.
For the age group 1-4 years, the death rate
of 3.5 per 1,000 population for Argentina
was higher than that for San Juan Province
but lower than the rate for Chaco Province.
Argentina has a large urban population in
Metropolitan Buenos Aires and thus it is
expected that the death rates for the country
will be lower than those for provinces
that have large rural areas.
Improvements in registration of deaths in
San Juan Province were made during the
period of the Investigation, and these are in
part reflected in the increases in the infant
TABLE 20. Death Rates' m Under 5 Years by Age
Group for Areas of Two Provinces of Argentina
Included in the Investigation, and for the Country.
Under Under 1-4
Area 5years I year years
Investigation
Chaco Province,
7departments ....... 22.1 80.1 4.8
Resistencia ........... 20.7 70.2 3.6
Six rural departments.. 23.0 85.0 0.3
San Juan Province ........ 20.6 81.3 3.0
San Juan (city) ......... 12.9 50.7 !.5
Suburban departments. 21.0 87.0 2.9
Rural departments ..... 24.0 94.5 4.0
Offilal data. 1908
Argentina ............... 14.7 67.8 3.5
a Deaths under I year per 1,000 live births; others per
1,000 population.