Take a look at the table above. This lists the top ten causes of death in Hong Kong for the years 1912, 1948, and 1999, being the earliest and most recent years respectively for which data were available at the time of writing, (source Department of Health Annual Report, HK Govt.).

What can you notice about the changes that have occurred in the types of diseases responsible for the majority of deaths in the years reported? What types of diseases were important causes of deaths in 1912? Were these types of disease still important in 1948? What about 1999?

What can you suggest that might account for these changes in the types of disease causing the greatest mortality in the population of HK? Can you make any other observations from the above table?