Mortality of the child population of the indigenous peoples of the North (based on the example of the Koryak autonomous area at 1968 -1991 years)

The indicators and causes of mortality of the child population of the Indigenous Peoples of the North (IPN) of the Koryak Autonomous Area (KAA) were determined, their impact on the generalized mortality rates of the population of the district, comparison with the mortality rates of the same age category of the newcomer population and the population of Kirovsk - an industrial city in a highly urbanized region of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (Murmansk region) with similar natural and climatic conditions and significant differences in the level of socioeconomic development. We used the Official Death Registrations archived in the Regional Government Registry Offices of three districts of the KAA and the city of Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast for the years 1968 - 1991. The main causes of death in children of the first year of life among IPN are respiratory diseases and injuries, which are 10 or more times higher than the levels in the group of children of non-indigenous nationalities of the KAA. Other causes of death, including infectious diseases, malignant neoplasms, certain conditions of the perinatal period, are also significantly higher in the child population of the IPN. Among the injuries not related to childbirth that caused the death of these children, the main place was occupied by mechanical asphyxia due to neglect of the mother, who was in a state of alcoholic intoxication. Infectious and parasitic diseases, as the cause of death of the child population of the IPN aged 5 to 14 years, remain at a high level and are 16.7-27.2 times higher than among children of the newcomer population, the USSR and some European countries. Respiratory diseases, as a cause of death, are also at a high level, especially among boys who help their parents in reindeer herding. At present, obtaining data for calculating the population