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.

Demographers and public health specialists have been surprised by the rapid increases in life expectancy, especially at the oldest ages, that have occurred since the early 1960s. Some scientists are calling into question the idea of a fixed upper limit for the human life span. There is new evidence about the genetic bases for both humans and other species. There are also new theories and models of the role of mutations accumulating over the life span and the possible evolutionary advantages of survival after the reproductive years. This volume deals with such diverse topics as the role of the elderly in other species and among human societies past and present, the contribution of evolutionary theory to our understanding of human longevity and intergenerational transfers, mathematical models for survival, and the potential for collecting genetic material in household surveys. It will be particularly valuable for promoting communication between the social and life sciences.

Strategic health planning, the cornerstone of initiatives designed to achieve health improvement goals around the world, requires an understanding of the comparative burden of diseases and injuries, their corresponding risk factors and the likely effects of invervention options. The Global Burden of Disease framework, originally published in 1990, has been widely adopted as the preferred method for health accounting and has become the standard to guide the setting of health research priorities. This publication sets out an updated assessment of the situation, with an analysis of trends observed since 1990 and a chapter on the sensitivity of GBD estimates to various sources of uncertainty in methods and data.

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.

Gives sets of age-sex patterns of mortality in Latin America, Chile, South Asia, the Far East and in general.

Each year more than 4 million children are born with birth defects. This book highlights the unprecedented opportunity to improve the lives of children and families in developing countries by preventing some birth defects and reducing the consequences of others. A number of developing countries with more comprehensive health care systems are making significant progress in the prevention and care of birth defects. In many other developing countries, however, policymakers have limited knowledge of the negative impact of birth defects and are largely unaware of the affordable and effective interventions available to reduce the impact of certain conditions. Reducing Birth Defects: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World includes descriptions of successful programs and presents a plan of action to address critical gaps in the understanding, prevention, and treatment of birth defects in developing countries. This study also recommends capacity building, priority research, and institutional and global efforts to reduce the incidence and impact of birth defects in developing countries.