Table 9.—Federal credit unions: Number of members, amount of assets, amount of shares, and amount of loans outstanding Dec. 31, 1935–52

1 In the period 1945 through 1952, the number of operating and reporting credit unions was the same. In other years, the number of credit unions which reported was less than the number in operation

Table 10.-Federal credit unions: Assets and liabilities, Dec. 31, 1952, and Dec. 31, 1951

Public Health Service

Health of the Nation

The Nation's investment in public health and related services has increased since World War II. Nevertheless, expenditures for the promotion of health and the prevention of disease and disability still comprise a small proportion of the Nation's total expenditures for health and medical care. The American public is spending about $14 billion annually for all types of civilian health and medical services. Expenditures for public health work and medical rehabilitation of the disabled amount to only 6 percent of the total.

Public health measures, based upon the findings of scientific research, however, have produced spectacular results. The average length of life in this country has increased 6 years since 1940; 9 years since 1930; and 21 years since 1900.

At the present time, the most widely prevalent diseases and the major causes of death and disability are the chronic diseases and accidents. The protective measures against communicable diseases must be maintained, but they are inadequate against the growing volume of illness and injury requiring costly hospital and medical care. Unless services are sustained and extended, unless scientific research in the health and medical fields is sustained, hope must be abandoned for any substantial reduction of the burden that hospital and medical care imposes on all people.

THE MORTALITY RECORD

The familiar yardsticks by which we can measure the health of a people again tell Americans that they are blessed in this respect, but that there is still much room for improvement. In 1952,1 the Ameri

1 All vital statistics are given for the calendar year.

can population had increased to about 160 million. In the same year, an estimated 1,494,000 deaths occurred, an increase of about 8,000 over 1951. The general death rate from all causes, however, still held a few points below 10 per 1,000 population for the fifth consecutive year. For the fourth year also, the maternal and infant mortality rates were lower than in earlier periods. Maternal deaths occurred at a rate of slightly less than 9 per 10,000 live births and infant mortality held at about 290 per 10,000.

Within the past five years there has been a striking decrease in the tuberculosis death rate, from 30 per 100,000 population in 1948 to a record low of 16 per 100,000 in 1952. The death rates from other serious infectious diseases also continued to decline. The syphilis death rate in 1952 was about 4 per 100,000 population, in contrast with 16 per 100,000 in 1938 when the nation-wide control program was inaugurated.

Deaths and death rates due to cardiovascular diseases, related diseases of the kidneys and circulatory system, and cancer continued to increase. In 1952, the cancer death rate reached an estimated 144 per 100,000 population, the highest ever recorded. The combined death rate for the major cardiovascular-renal diseases in 1952 was estimated to be 509 per 100,000. Deaths from cancer and the cardiovascularrenal diseases accounted for more than two-thirds of the total deaths in the United States.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

Virus infections continued to be the major problems in communicable disease control. Early in 1952, an outbreak of type B influenza swept through most of the States, but as in most such epidemics of recent years, the cases were generally mild.

A total of 57,600 cases of poliomyelitis was reported during the year, the largest number to date. The outbreak occurred principally in the North Central, South Central, Western, and Mountain States.

A severe outbreak of Western equine encephalitis occurred in the central valley of California in the summer of 1952, following a rainy season which favored the breeding of mosquitoes. Still another virus disease, infectious hepatitis, was reported in many parts of the country. More cases of scarlet fever, streptococcal sore throat, and meningococcal infections were reported in 1952 than in 1951. The increases probably reflect the expected cyclic pattern of these infections. Malaria cases also were reported in sizable numbers, chiefly among military personnel and veterans from Korea. Few of these cases were contracted in the United States.

T

The reported incidence of diphtheria, whooping cough, and endemic typhus fever declined sharply in 1952. There were also small decreases in Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.

Eighteen cases of smallpox were reported in 1952, an increase of 7 over 1951. In the first half of 1953, 15 cases were reported, all but 3 in the State of Nebraska. However, not all of these reported cases have been confirmed by laboratory findings.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN OTHER COUNTRIES

For the fourth consecutive year, England reported an outbreak of smallpox in the spring of 1953. Thirty cases, with 8 deaths, occurred in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Smallpox was epidemic in Colombia at the close of the fiscal year. In Asia, smallpox decreased except in Madras State, India.

Jungle yellow fever has gradually progressed northward in Central America. The first case to occur in that area was reported by Panama in 1950. Costa Rica reported cases in 1951 and 1952, and the first case occurred in Nicaragua late in 1952. Jungle yellow fever also is prevalent in the interior of the States of Sao Paulo and Parana in Brazil.

BIRTHS AND BIRTH RATE

In 1952, more infants were born in the United States than in any preceding year. More than 3.8 million births were registered and when unregistered births are added the total will probably be 3,890,000. The birth rate for 1952 was 25 per 1,000 population. Since 1947, the birth rate in the United States has been at about the same level as that of the 1920's.

A significant fact in our higher birth rate is that the number of families having a third or fourth child has increased steadily since the close of World War II. The reverse was true in the period following World War I, when there was a continuous decline in mediumsized families.

In 1950, 88 percent of the registered births occurred in hospitals and 95 percent of the deliveries were attended by physicians. Fifteen years earlier, the corresponding percentages were 37 and 87 respectively. The sharp rise in the percentage of births in hospitals and attended by physicians is an important factor in the continuing decline in maternal and infant mortality rates.

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE

Marriages declined slightly from 1,594,113 in 1951 to 1,569,579 in 1952. About 4 in every 5 marriages reported in 1950 were first marriages for both bride and groom. More brides married at 18 than at