Mortality by cause for eight regions of the world: Global Burden of Disease Study

Reliable information on causes of death is essential to the development of national and international health policies for prevention and control of disease and injury. Medically certified information is available for less than 30 percent of the estimated 50.5 million deaths that occur each year worldwide. This paper, from The Lancet, reports on the five-year Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD). This paper also reports on regional and global patterns of mortality by cause.

The GBD was designed to provide information on non-fatal health outcomes for debates on international health policy, develop unbiased epidemiological assessments for major disorders, and to quantify the burden of disease with a measure that could also be used for cost-effectiveness analysis. This paper concludes that five of the ten leading killers are communicable, perinatal, and nutritional disorders largely affecting children. Non-communicable diseases are, however, already major public health challenges in all regions. [adapted from authors]