[?]Ig Improvement In

[?]ook Islands

Nfant Health

7HGURES recently published show . a very marked fall in the Cook Islands infant mortality rate.

They are striking evidence that a reat deal has been done in clean ig up the particularly serious tuation that has existed in recent ears.

It is evident that the Govern lent and the Cook Islands Health ervice were stung into effective ction by the report of the New ealand Medical Research Council r hich revealed an appalling state f affairs, especially in the northern roup.

In recent years, the infant lortality rates, per 1,000 live births, :>r children up to 12 months old, ave been as follows: 1952, 137.6; 953, 123.5; 1954, 131.2, and 1955, 49.9.

The figure has now fallen to 92.6 Dr the 1956-57 year, and suggests bat the situation should be well

under control by next year, especi ally as a European public health nurse has lately been appointed to Mamhiki (which has a mortality figure far above the average figures given above).

There is also a drive in progress to encourage better housing which overall, has sunk to slum level on some islands and in certain villages in post-war years. This drive is backed by a limited Government plan of housing finance which has been put into action this year A more extensive plan is understood to be in preparation.

Figmes for infant mortality for the individual islands do not appear in the annual reports, but the latest report states that the biggest im provement last year was on the

main island of Rarotonga, where most of the health services are con centrated and where staffing and supervision is less of a problem.