Indian death rate declines-Still three times national average

Page 2

The death rate among Canadian Indians has dropped dramatically in recent years, but it remains three times the national average for Indians under 35, according to a recently released Statistics Canada Journal.

The quarterly magazine Canadian Social Trends also indicates that the infant mortality among Indians is above the national average as well.

The annual death rate among Indians fell to nine per 1000 people in 1986, down from 11.8 per thousand in 1978. However, the Indian rate was still one-and-a-half times as high as the rate for all Canadians - 6.6 per 1000.

The death rate among Indians becomes closer to the national average after age 50 in the 1983 to 1986 period.

Between age 50 to 54, the rate among Indians was956 deaths per 100,000 population compared with 536 for all Canadians. At ages 70 to 74, the figures were 3,868 for Indians and 3,282 for the total population.

In 1986, the Indian infant mortality rate was 17.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. It was down from 79 in 1960. The 1986 figure indicated that the rate was more than twice that for the rest of Canada (7.9).

The report that the varying mortality rates among Indian and non-Indian infants were within the first month of life.

Indian death rates are closer to the national average at or around time of birth.

During the 1983 to 1986 period, it was found that there were 378 accidental deaths for every 100,000 Indian men aged 15 and over while the rate was 95 for all Canadian men.

Other StatsCan findings are that suicides among Indians are more than twice the national level, and Indians are less likely to die of cancer than other Canadians and more likely to die of respiratory conditions.