Explain Why There Has Been a Change in the Death Rate Since 1900

895 Words4 Pages
Since 1900, there has been a decrease in the death rate. Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year. Although there is a negative trend there are some fluctuations such as World War 1(1914-18) and World War 2(1939-45) as well as the influenza epidemic of 1918 causing 690,000 deaths. In 1900, the death rate was 19 whereas in 2007 the death rate was just 10. The reduction of infectious diseases such as TB, smallpox and influenza caused the decline in death rates. Tranter (1996) said that a reduce in people dying from these illnesses accounted for over ¾ of the decline in death rate. Tranter also stated that infants, children and young adults were the most at risk from these diseases. Also by the 1950’s, ‘diseases of affluence’ were the main causes of death. ‘Diseases of affluence’ were diseases of the wealthy such as heart disease and cancers. These mostly affected the middle aged and the older generation. Improved nutrition was also said to have helped reduce death rates since the early 1900’s. McKeown in 1972 said that improved nutrition accounted for half of the reduction in deaths. He said this as he thought that better nutrition increased the resistance against infections and helped our immune systems to fight them. Although this seems logical, critics say that he doesn’t explain why females, who receive a smaller share of food, lived longer than males. Also how it doesn’t explain why infectious diseases such as measles rose. In the 1950’s improved medical knowledge, techniques and organisations helped to reduce the amounts of deaths. This was due to advances in not just the medical practice but the actual medicine used, for example there were advances in antibiotics. There were also advances such as blood transfusions, widespread immunisation, higher standards of maternity and midwifery services as well as the NHS. Recently,
Open Document