3. The Burden of Disease and Mortality by Condition: Data, Methods, and Results for 2001

Table 3.2: Availability of Data for Estimation of Causes of Death by Age and Sex

Availability of Data for Estimation of Causes of Death by Age and Sex
Type of data East Asia and Pacific Europe and Central Asia Latin America and the Caribbean Middle East and North Africa South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa High-income countries Total
Number of countries
Death registration data (coverage of 85% or more) a 1 11 5 1 0 1 29 48
Death registration data (coverage <85%) - adjusted using cause-of-death models 5 16 25 3 1 3 5 58
Sample registration and surveillance b 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 5
No data-cause-of-death models used with detailed cause patterns based on regional data 14 0 2 10 6 42 3 77
Epidemiological estimates for mortality due to specific causes used where applicable c d c c c c e c
Percent of population
Death registration data (coverage of 85% or more) a 0.0 52.7 13.0 0.1 0.0 0.2 94.4 19.5
Death registration data (coverage <85%) 3 adjusted using cause-of-death models 5.6 47.3 84.2 50.0 1.4 8.6 5.3 17.1
Sample registration and surveillance b 73.3 0.0 0.0 1.7 74.5 1.4 0.0 39.1
No data-cause-of-death models used with detailed cause patterns based on regional data 21.1 0.0 2.9 48.1 24.2 89.8 0.3 24.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: Authors' compilation.

a. The threshold of coverage of 85 percent used for causes of death differs from that used for registration of deaths (95 percent) because the biases from underreporting of the fact of death are more serious for assessing levels of all-cause mortality than for assessing the distribution of causes.

b. Includes countries with death registration or surveillance systems relying heavily on verbal autopsy methods for ascertaining causes of death.

c. HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, measles, pertussis, poliomyelitis, tetanus, acute lower respiratory infections, Chagas' disease, maternal conditions, perinatal conditions, cancers, drug use disorders, rheumathoid arthritis, and war. See table 3.5 for details.

d. AIDS, drug use disorders, and war. See table 3.5 for details.

e. Drug use disorders and war. See table 3.5 for details.

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