| PS - the infant mortality statistics are bogus; they are a | record-keeping artefact. Other countries (notably Sweden, to which the | USA is always being compared) don't "count" a child as born until it has | reached a certain age (three weeks in Sweden). Guess when most infant | deaths occur?
Well, I got curious about the statement above so I went and checked. Well, I proxy-checked. A co-worker is a swede and I asked him to write and ask them what they had to say. At least as far as www.scb.se (Sweden's central office of statistics (the title loses a bit in the translation, but it is an oficial .gov body that does, well, statistics)) is concerned, infant deaths start counting as soon as the baby is born. Below is the exchange from my colleague and the person at the scb listed as a contact person on the website. (note that the website is also available in english...) --Gabe PS-The swedish characters get mangled by my mail client. If anyone actually reades swedish and would like to see a html version of the message (the only thing I altered was the email of my co-worker) I will gladly post the message on a website somewhere. -----Original Message----- From: *Befolkningsstatistik [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]=20 Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 10:59 AM To: ola nordbeck Subject: SV: Sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dlighet hej! sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dlighet =3D antalet barn som d=F6r under f=F6rsta = levnads=E5ret. 2001 var sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dligheten i Sverige 3,4 per 1000 levande f=F6dda. Det = finns en tabell i publikationen "Befolkningsstatistik del 4", tab 4.12, "Sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dligheten p=E5 1000 levanade f=F6dda 1951-2001" d=E4r = man indelar d=F6dligheten "Under f=F6rsta levnadsdygnet, f=F6rsta levnadsveckan, = f=F6rsta levnadsm=E5naden etc...., men "sp=E4dbarnd=F6dlighet" g=E4ller generellt = under f=F6rsta levnads=E5ret.=20 V=E4nliga H=E4lsningar/Yours Sincerely,=20 Margareta Larsson=20 Befolkningsstatistiken/Population Statistics=20 Phone: +46 19 176594=20 fax: +46 19 176942=20 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]=20 -----Ursprungligt meddelande----- Fr=E5n: ola nordbeck Skickat: den 30 januari 2003 10:35 Till: *Befolkningsstatistik =C4mne: Sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dlighet Vanligen, Enligt en kollega sa skulle scb m=E4ta Sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dlighet forst = efter 3 veckan efter fodseln. Enligt er definition sa skulle = Sp=E4dbarnsd=F6dlighet avse samtliga d=F6dsfall som intr=E4ffar f=F6re ett =E5rs =E5lder. Ar = detta samtliga dodsfall eller ar min kollegas uppgifter riktiga. Mvh, Ola nordbeck
