Mortality Rate

World Death Rate Map

1. Angola 192.50 2. Afghanistan 165.96 3. Sierra Leone 145.24 4. Mozambique 137.085. Liberia 130.51

6. Niger 122.66 7. Somalia 118.52 8. Mali 117.99 9. Tajikistan 112.10 10. Guinea-Bissau 108.72

Measures of Mortality

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The average annual number of deaths during a year per 1,000 population.

Age-specific Death Rate

This shows deaths rates per 1,000 population by sex for age groups:

'Under 1', '1 to 4', '5 to 15', '16 to 24', '25 to 34', '35 to 44', '45 to 54', '55 to 64', '65 to 74', '75 to 84' and '85 and over'.

Life Expectancy The average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future.

Study Case - South Africa

Mortality RateMortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in some

population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time.

Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per year in that entire population.

It is applied to the whole population; therefore, can be misleading.

E.g. the number of deaths per 1000 people can be higher for developed nations than in less-developed countries, despite standards of health being better in developed countries. This is because developed countries have relatively more older people, who are more likely to die in a given year, so that the overall mortality rate can be higher even if the mortality rate at any given age is lower.

Crude Death Rate• Death rate

– Easiest of the variables to consider.

– Occurs just once per person and is the most recorded.

• Crude Death Rate (CDR)– Annual number of

deaths per 1000 population (all ages included).

25 males of any age25 females of any age

1,000

10 people who died that year

30

CDR = 30

Causes of Death• Causes of death

– Throughout most of history famine, epidemics, and wars have been the leading causes of death.

– Primary causes of death began to shift to degenerative problems related to aging.

– These include such factors as heart disease and cancer.

• Death and welfare– Used to be considered a sign of the health of a

population.– Different age structures among the populations of

different countries.– Possible for a nation with high living standards to have

a higher death rate than a poorer nation. Reason: overall older population.

Mortality Differentiation

• Age• Sex• Residence• Occupation• Income• Literacy• access to food• Shelter• Medical facilities

Life Expectancy

It represents the average life span of a newborn and is an indicator of the overall health of a country. Life expectancy can fall due to problems like famine, war, disease and poor health. Improvements in health and welfare increase life expectancy. The higher the life expectancy, the better shape a country is in.

Global Life Expectancy Overview

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,0001,800,000

2,000,000

Number of People(X1000)

30-35

35-40

40-45

45-50

50-55

55-60

60-65

65-70

70-75

75-80

80-85

Life Expectancy (Years)

Global Life Expectancy Frequency Distribution(192 countries, 6.3 billion total population)

It's likely that life expectancy of the most developed countries will slowly advance and then reach a peak in the range of the mid-80s in age.

Life Expectancy Map

During the Roman Empire, Romans had a approximate life expectancy of 22 to 25 years. In 1900, the world life expectancy was approximately 30 years and in 1985 it was about 62 years.

The current life expectancy is 67 years.

Life expectancy at birth, world, 1950-2000

46.549.6

52.4

56.158.0

59.861.4

63.0 63.9 65.0

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

1950-1955

1955-1960

1960-1965

1965-1970

1970-1975

1975-1980

1980-1985

1985-1990

1990-1995

1995-2000

Life expectancy rose rapidly in the twentieth century due to improvements in public health, nutrition and medicine.

Life expectancy at birth, by region

35

40

4550

55

60

6570

75

80

1950-1955

1955-1960

1960-1965

1965-1970

1970-1975

1975-1980

1980-1985

1985-1990

1990-1995

1995-2000

More developed regions

Less developed regions

Currently, microstates Andorra, San Marino, and Singapore along with Japan have the world's highest life expectancies (83.5, 82.1, 81.6 and 81.15 respectively).

Unfortunately, AIDS has taken its toll in Africa, Asia and even Latin America by reducing life expectancy in 34 different countries (26 of them in Africa). Africa is home to the world's lowest life expectancies with Swaziland (33.2 years), Botswana (33.9 years) and Lesotho (34.5 years) rounding out the bottom.

Global Life Expectancy Overview Cont…

Infant MortalityInfant mortality is the death of infants in the first year of life.

– Expressed in numbers of deaths of infants under one year per 1000 live births of the same year.

– Also considers the death of children under 5 per 1000 in their cohort.– High levels of infant mortality pull down life expectancy rates.– Reflects the quality of the health system.– Very strong differences between developed and developing countries.

perinatal mortality rate

the sum of neonatal deaths and fetal deaths (stillbirths) per 1,000 births.

maternal mortality rate

the number of maternal deaths due to childbearing per 100,000 live births.

infant mortality rate

the number of deaths of children less than 1 year old per thousand live births

child mortality rate

the number of deaths of children less than 5 year old per thousand live births

5 yrs5 yrs

Child Mortality

* Major causes of infant mortality in more developed countries include congenital malformation and infections.

Determinants of IMR variation

• Age of mother• Educational level of mother

(Inverse relationship: Infant mortality rates fell with increasing maternal education. Parents who have higher education are likely to read more and be better informed about proper infant care and safety precautions around the home.)

• Family income (status of women) • Birth order, birth interval• Sex of baby• Health infrastructure• Infant feeding (breastfeeding)

Infant Mortality Rate: Age of mother

• Birth order showed that second- and third-born infants weighing 2,500 g or more had the lowest infant mortality risks

• Babies born to women aged 25-34 had the lowest infant mortality risks

• Infants with teenage mothers tended to be at high risk This is due to the larger proportions of babies born to teenagers were of low birth weight

• For post neonatal mortality risks, remained elevated among infants of teen mothers even after the control – This is believed to be due to socioeconomic factors

related to early motherhood

Infant Mortality Map & Graph

Infant mortality is inversely related to GDP per capita

Geography of Disease

• HIV / AIDS• SARS• Avian Flu• Malaria

HIV / AIDSAcquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a

collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans.

AVIAN FLU

Avian flu (also "bird flu", "avian influenza", "bird influenza"), means "flu from viruses adapted to birds.”

"Bird flu" is a phrase similar to "Swine flu", "Dog flu", "Horse flu", or "Human flu" in that it refers to an illness caused by any of many different strains of flu viruses such that the strain in question has adapted to the host. All known avian flu viruses belong to the species of virus called Influenza A virus.

Malaria

Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, it causes disease in approximately 650 million people and kills between one and three million, most of them young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is commonly-associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.