This study analyzes the mortality trends and patterns in Bangladesh, and the underlying factors affecting mortality over the last 3 decades. Like many other countries, the mortality transition has also taken place in Bangladesh since the 1950s. In recent years, mortality levels in Bangladesh have improved, although the level is still much higher than in many developing countries. The estimates of the crude death rate from various sources present an overall mortality trend although these measures suffer from different types of accuracy problems. From 1921-1951, the mortality level remained at about 40/1000. It was highly influenced by natural calamities and environmental conditions. The decade after this showed a rapid improvement in mortality; a similar pace of decline also prevailed during 1961-1971. This improvement may be attributed to the various health programs undertaken by the government such as eradication programs for malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid, and cholera. About 50% of the decline resulted from the control of communicable diseases. Malaria and tuberculosis were among the important causes, and dysentery, diarrhea, and gastroenteric diseases, including cholera and typhoid, accounted for about .2 to .3 million deaths per year in the country in the 1950s. In 1962, the government introduced the malaria eradication program, and full control of malaria was achieved by 1977, except for the northern and southern parts of the country. After the decade of 1960-1970, mortality rates were very stable at 12-17/1000. Infant mortality rates from 1911-1983 indicate an overall improvement from 205/1000 in 1911 to 113/1000 in 1983. The rates in recent years appear to vary from 115 to 125, but show some increase for 1981 and 1982. Mortality differentials due to sex of children are very high. Female children of ages older than 1 have a higher risk of mortality than their male counterparts, but for neonatal deaths, the situation is reversed. Objectives in the 2nd 5-year plan 1980-1985 include 1. bridging the rural-urban gap; 2. controlling major communicable diseases; 3. providing health and family planning services in a package; 4. improving the quality and availability of drugs and medicine, and 5. developing and integrating indigenous and homeopathic systems of medicines with the overall health care systems.

The dearth of reliable data on the levels and causes of mortality in poorer regions of the world continues to plague efforts to build a solid evidence base for health policy, planning, monitoring, and evaluation. As a partial solution to this problem, verbal autopsy has become the primary source of information about causes of death in populations lacking vital registration and medical certification. The purpose of this manual is to disseminate new standard data collection and cause-of-death assignment resources for verbal autopsy, and to provide some general guidelines for their use. The manual includes verbal autopsy questionnaires for three age groups, cause-of-death certification and coding guidelines for applying the International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD-10) to verbal autopsy and a cause-of-death list for verbal autopsy with corresponding ICD-10 codes. These resources are the consensus products of a three-year effort by an expert group led by WHO, consisting of researchers, data users, and other stakeholders under the sponsorship of the Health Metrics Network. They are intended to serve the needs of various users and producers of mortality information, including researchers, policy-makers, program managers, and evaluators.

This text provides a unique view of global inequities in health status and health sytems. Emphasizing socioeconomic conditions, it combines chapters on conceptual and measurement issues with case studies from around the world.

Current data and trends in morbidity and mortality for the sub-Saharan Region as presented in this new edition reflect the heavy toll that HIV/AIDS has had on health indicators, leading to either a stalling or reversal of the gains made, not just for communicable disorders, but for cancers, as well as mental and neurological disorders.

In 1997 the committee published Reproductive Health in Developing Countries: Expanding Dimensions, Building Solutions, a report that recommended actions to improve reproductive health for women around the world. As a follow- on activity, the committee proposed an investigation into the social and economic consequences of maternal morbidity and mortality. With funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the committee organized a workshop on this topic in Washington, DC, on October 19-20, 1998. The Consequences of Maternal Morbidity and Maternal Mortality assesses the scientific knowledge about the consequences of maternal morbidity and mortality and discusses key findings from recent research. Although the existing research on this topic is scarce, the report drew on similar literature on the consequences of adult disease and death, especially the growing literature on the socioeconomic consequences of AIDS, to look at potential consequences from maternal disability and death.

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.

This book answers key questions about environment, people and their shared future in deltas. It develops a systematic and holistic approach for policy-orientated analysis for the future of these regions. It does so by focusing on ecosystem services in the world’s largest, most populous and most iconic delta region, that of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. The book covers the conceptual basis, research approaches and challenges, while also providing a methodology for integration across multiple disciplines, offering a potential prototype for assessments of deltas worldwide. Ecosystem Services for Well-Being in Deltas analyses changing ecosystem services in deltas; the health and well-being of people reliant on them; the continued central role of agriculture and fishing; and the implications of aquaculture in such environments.The analysis is brought together in an integrated and accessible way to examine the future of the Ganges Brahmaputra delta based on a near decade of research by a team of the world’s leading scientists on deltas and their human and environmental dimensions. This book is essential reading for students and academics within the fields of Environmental Geography, Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy focused on solving the world’s most critical challenges of balancing humans with their environments. This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.