This volume examines the trends of early-age mortality across time and space and the methodological and theoretical problems inherent in such studies. The approach is interdisciplinary, with contributions from demography, biology, medicine, and economic and social history. The geographical range encompasses Europe, North America, Japan, and India.

The ESCAP secretariat, with financial support from the UN Fund for Population Activities, initiated in 1984 the project ANALYSIS OF TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF MORTALITY IN THE ESCAP REGION. The 1st expert meeting under the project was held at Bangkok in November 1984. This report on Indonesia is divided into 9 categories and a bibliography. Sections include background information, mortality trends and patterns, mortality differentials, major health problems and causes of deaths, health services and their development, nutritional situation, health and population policies, health and mortality prospects, and policy recommendations. Some highlights of the data follow. 1. Infant mortality rate is an important indicator; trends in the rate clearly are important clues to comprehensive changes that are taking place in Indonesian society. Unfortunately, little has been reported on the child mortality rate prior to 1950. The actual death rate for the 1950s is uncertain. Some estimate the crude death rate at 20-30/1000 and the infant mortality rate at 100-300/1000. Mortality began to decline sharply in the 1960s. By the end of the 1960s, the infant mortality rate was estimated at around 137/1000 live births. By 1980, the infant mortality rate was 98/1000 live births. Further conclusions regarding the age pattern of mortality in Indonesia cannot yet be made during this decade. 2. Official figures show that 45% of all deaths in the 1st 5 years of life are due to immunizable diseases and diarrhea. Respiratory infections are the next causes of infant and child mortality; tetanus alone causes more than 40% of total mortality in the 1st month after birth. 3. Data from the early 1970s show that infant and childhood mortality was 28% higher among males than among females. 4. Estimations from the 1980 census show that the infant mortality rate is 30% lower for urban than rural areas. 5. Children born to mothers with higher educational attainment tend to have a lower risk of mortality. 6. Children of professional women have the best chances of survival, followed by the non-working group. The mortality rate of children of blue collar mothers was 2 times that of white collar mothers.

The decline of mortality in the less developed countries during the last thirty years has not been uniform across various strata of the national populations. Strongly pronounced differentials in survival chances exist between the urban white collar elites and the rural and city slum dwellers, and particularly affect women and children. This volume presents papers outlining new conceptual approaches and methodological issues related to the study of differential mortality, and explores such issues as the demographic impacts of famine and other disasters, the contribution of fertility decline to mortality change, and new health problems resulting from the aging of the population.