GENERAL NEWS
Progress Report on American Health.
—Vital statistics contained in the 1950 "Annual Report of the Federal Security Agency," United States Public Health Service, show that the 1949 death rate followed the same declining trend which has been displayed for the past 10 to 20 years. In 1949 the death rate declined from 9.9 per 1,000 population in 1948 to 9.7 per 1,000. Although 3,700,000 babies were born in the United States in 1949, fewer infants died in the first year of life. Maternal deaths also declined. In 1949 the infant mortality rate was 31 for every 1,000 live births, and the maternal mortality rate was 9 per 10,000 live births. The birth rate was 24.1 per 1,000 population, as compared with 24.2 in 1948.Deaths from chronic diseases showed little change from the 1948 figure, although mortality from these diseases has been mounting with the growing and aging