1993 Volume 59 Issue 2 Pages 97-103
Maternal mortality rates, infant mortality rates, neo-natal mortality rates and the causes of those deaths in China were compared with Japan. 1. In China, maternal mortality rate of urban district was 4.9 times as high as Japan and that of rural district was 12.2 times as high as Japan. In the causes of maternal deaths, the percentages of hemorrhage and sepsis of puerperal were higher in China than Japan. 2. In China, infant mortality rate of urban district was 3.8 times as high as Japan and that of rural district was 6.9 times as high as Japan. The percentage of deaths less than four weeks after birth in infant deaths was higher in China than Japan. The first cause of infant deaths were neo-natal diseases in both countries and the proportion of that was higher in China than Japan. The second cause of infant deaths in Japan was congenital malformations and that in both district in China was respiratory system diseases such as pneumonia or bronchitis. 3. In China, neo-natal mortality rate of urban district was 4.3 times as high as Japan and that of rural district was 7.7 times as high as Japan. The first cause of neo-natal deaths in both countries was birth injuries, hypoxia, postnatal asphyxia and other respiratory diseases. The second cause of Japan and urban district in China was congenital malformation and that of rural district in China was premature infant with unknown etiology. It seemed that these differences of the level of maternal and child health were caused from the differences of medical care and health service systems, health insurance system, and education level of mothers.
