Measuring the burden of premature mortality in Pakistan: use of sentinel surveillance systems

A A Hyder; S A Wali; A Ghaffar; T I Masud; K Hill

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2004.08.017

Measuring the burden of premature mortality in Pakistan: use of sentinel surveillance systems

Public Health. 2005 Jun;119(6):459-65. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2004.08.017.

Authors

A A Hyder¹, S A Wali, A Ghaffar, T I Masud, K Hill

Affiliation

¹ Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Suite E-8132 Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. ahyder@jhsph.edu

PMID: 15826886
DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2004.08.017

Abstract

Introduction: In developing countries, finding valid and reliable data is a great challenge. The Federal Bureau of Statistics in Pakistan maintains a surveillance system that records vital events. Results are reported as the Pakistan Demographic Survey (PDS).

Methods: The adjusted mortality data from PDS-1997 was used to estimate the burden of premature mortality using the healthy life year (HeaLY) methodology.

Results: The burden of premature mortality for Pakistan was 367 HeaLYs lost per 1000 population. More than half of the HeaLYs are being lost due to infection, maternal and perinatal conditions, and malnutrition.

Conclusion: In the absence of a system maintaining reliable information regarding vital events, PDS provides a good alternate source of such information that can be used to aid policy making for health care and future research.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Cause of Death
Child
Child, Preschool
Cost of Illness
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality*
Pakistan / epidemiology
Sentinel Surveillance*