Edited by Emmanuela Gakidou
Population Health Metrics
Accurate mortality statistics are fundamental to help guide priorities in public health policy, planning, and resource allocation. Reliable information on levels of mortality and leading causes of death enables decision-makers to strategically design, fund, and implement programs to ensure the greatest possible impact on longevity and quality of life. This series describes methods and results from what may be the largest-ever national investigation into the validity and quality of cause-of-death statistics in a developing country, using extensive field studies in Thailand to develop reliable estimates of mortality by age, sex, and cause. The research could serve as a model for additional investigations into the quality of mortality statistics in other developing countries.