The level of health with which we are struggling is about the level that we had in the general population over a generation ago. Primarily, the contagious and infectious diseases which have yielded to public health programs long since in the general population.

Senator HILL. Now, for the sake of the record, and to get the picture clearly, name some of these diseases.

Dr. SHAW. Tuberculosis, dysentery, trachoma, infectious hepatitis, whooping cough, and other respiratory infections of that type. Some of them have a ratio at as high as 11 to 1.

Senator HILL. Now, you say some of them ratio at as high as 10 to 1? What does that mean?

Dr. SHAW. The ratio of diseases and deaths in the Indian population as compared with the general population.

Senator HILL. In other words, where only 1 in the general population of the United States would die from 1 of these diseases today, 11 Indians would die; is that right?

Dr. SHAW. Yes, sir; I will clarify that as we move through these charts.

Senator HILL. All right.

FEW INDIAN DEATHS FROM HEART DISEASE

Dr. SHAW. This is "Death rates by cause" in the United States. (The following chart was submitted:)

Dr. SHAW. The leading cause since we have been working has become a degenerative disease, heart disease. You notice not many Indians are dying of heart disease, as compared with the general population, because ours, the Indian, that is, is a young population, having succumbed to infections, accidents, influenza, pneumonia, and diseases of infancy, and tuberculosis; again, malignancy in this population group is not uncommon, but not a real threat.

Senator HILL. You ascribe that to the fact that so many of the Indians die younger and do not reach that age where malignancy is so common among the general population?

Dr. SHAW. That is right.

Senator STENNIS. The same thing is true of heart disease?

AVERAGE AGE OF INDIANS AT DEATH

Dr. SHAW. Yes. The average age of the Indians at time of death is 39 years, as compared to over 60 years in the general population. Now this shows the infant death rate. I might say that about 80 percent of all Indians whose births are reported are born in our hospitals. While we have them in the hospitals you can see we do very well with them, but when they go back to their homes, to the poor sanitation conditions, poor housing, poor food and so on, isolated, and away from medical services, you can see what happens.

(The following chart was submitted:)