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PREFACE
This publication contains a selection of the papers
that were presented at the Seminar on Emerging Issues
of Health and Mortality, which was held at Bangkok
from 27 to 29 September 2004. The papers provide both
a broad view of the mortality situation in the region
and country-specific profiles of various aspects of
mortality. It is hoped that these will be of value
in helping developing countries to further reduce
mortality and improve the health of their populations
in line with the Millennium Development Goals.
This publication was prepared by the Emerging Social
Issues Division of ESCAP in cooperation with in-house
experts and scholars in the region. Its production
was made possible with the generous financial support
of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which
also funded the aforementioned Seminar under the project
“Population, Development and Poverty: Emerging
Challenges”.
While the availability of data and information on
mortality varies from country to country, every effort
was made to obtain the most reliable and up-to-date
statistics available.
Overall, the publication shows that the Asian and
Pacific region has experienced a remarkable increase
in life expectancy at birth thanks to the many improvements
in health-care services and socio-economic conditions
during the past 50 years. Although the trend of falling
mortality rates is clearly evident in the region as
a whole, there is a large disparity in the health
and mortality situation between subregions and even
within countries.
This publication addresses such issues and emerging
challenges by focusing on the relationship between
health and mortality; infant, child and adult mortality
(maternal mortality); shifts in age and disease patterns;
and health-care systems and health care of older persons.
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