Census of India 1951 — Vital Statistics West Bengal: 1941-1950

In an atmosphere thick with the fumes of planning the fact that Vital Statistics " define the problems and measure the results of publihealth work " and form the basis of all intellgent programmes is generally admitted medical men and researchers deplore the present state and method of collection while the uses of a birth or death certificate are becoming far too numerous even in the life [...] The U. S. Department of Comerce through the U. S. A. Census Bureau issues to every physician a Physician's Handbook on Birth and Death Registration which describes the duties of physicians and midwives on the filling of certificates of birth and death the method of their preparation the importance of registration the system of registration and an International List of causes of Death for re [...] Before 1943 a birth rate of over 30 per mile of population was recorded by the districts of Birbhum (34.2 in 1941 and 34.8 in 1942) Nadia (32.6 in 1941 and 33.8 in 1942) Murshidabad (34.5 in 1941 and 33.0 in 1942) Jalpaiguri (30-7 in 1941 and 30.9 in 1942) and Darjeeling (30.1 in 1941) and a birth rate below 20 per mile was noticed only in the districts of Howrah (19.7 in 1941 and 15.7 in 1942 [...] The birth rate rose again in 1920 and 1921 as a result of the demobilisation of the armed forces but later in the decade the tendency towards a decline in the annual number of births rasserted itself and in the period 1926-30 the rate had dropped to 16.7. [...] Health Services of West Bengal—A casual observer or even a critic of the Health Services of West Bengal will admit the considerable achievments of the Department of Public Health since 1947 in the reorganisation of health services improvement of rural water supply inoculations and vaccination the increase in the number of mobile medical units sanitary and health staff improved supply of med