Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 413

This problem is now assuming most serious dimensions because of the great influx of immigrants into the country (forty to fifty thousand per annum), who are more susceptible to endemic diseases than the natives. There is, therefore, a great need for an intensive and methodical campaign against these diseases. Jewish authorities, foreseeing the gravity of the situation, wasted no time in discussing with the Government what were the best methods of prevention. Amongst the suggestions placed before the Government were the following. The appointment of an official in charge of all antimalarial activities of the Government Health department, the extension of epidemiological services in various districts, antimalarial drainage in affected districts, and the opening of a hospital for infectious diseases in Tel-Aviv. The Government agreed to act upon certain of these suggestions, but whatever action followed was belated and inadequate. The present excellent state of the Government's finances makes this inactivity all the more deplorable and does not justify the use of palliatives where more thorough methods are required. 4. The following tables show the number of births and deaths in the various communities during 1934. Community. Jewish Moslem .. Christian Number of Population. 253,700 740,627 99,532 Births. 7,666 34,489 3,340 Deaths. 2,419 19,760 1,618 Natural Increase. 5,247 14,729 1,722 In numbers per thousand. Community. Jewish Moslem Christian Births. 30.21 46.56 33.53 Deaths. 2.53 26.68 16.25 Natural Increase. 20.68 19.88 17.31 Infantile Mortality (per thousand births). Jews ... ... 78.13 Moslems ... ... 175.15 Christians ... 152.39 The above figures indicate that mortality amongst the Jews is the same as amongst the Western European nations. The number of births per thousand is higher than in Western European countries and is also higher than in the Eastern European Jewish communities. The main reason for this is the predominance of a younger element in the Jewish community of Palestine, thanks to the immigration. The natural increase amongst the Jews has reached the figure of twenty per thousand this year, and is for the first time higher than the natural increase per thousand amongst the Moslems. 413