Causes of mortality change across the lifespan and adolescents have a specific profile of common causes of mortality, with a generally higher proportion of injury as a cause of death compared to other age groups. This indicator includes priority age- and sex-specific causes of mortality. Improved data collection on mortality causes can encourage targeted action through national policies and programmes.
Definition:
Number of deaths among adolescents (10–19 years) per 100 000 adolescent population, by specified causes, including priority causes of adolescent death globally (that is, cardiovascular disease, drowning, diarrhoeal diseases, HIV/AIDS, interpersonal violence, lower respiratory infections, malaria, maternal conditions, meningitis, neoplasms, road traffic injury, self-harm and tuberculosis) and other causes determined by the national context
Age group (10–14, 15–19 years); sex; cause (cardiovascular disease, drowning, diarrhoeal diseases, HIV/AIDS, interpersonal violence, lower respiratory infections, malaria, maternal conditions, meningitis, neoplasms, road traffic injury, self-harm and tuberculosis)
Method of measurement
To calculate this indicator, age-specific data on both cause of death and population are needed. CRVS, surveillance and HMIS can provide cause-specific deaths of persons aged 10–19 years during a specified period (for example, the preceding calendar year), but the estimated/enumerated population aged 10–19 years would come from a different source, such as a population register or a population projection from a census. Cause-specific death data may also be obtained from population-based surveys with verbal autopsies; these surveys also provide the required data for the denominator.
Other possible data sources:
Population-based surveys
Health management information system (HMIS)
Sample or sentinel registration systems
Preferred data sources:
Civil registration and vital statistics
Comments:
GAMA recommends this as a core indicator, essential for measuring the health of all adolescents globally.
Estimates of cause of death can vary by data source and calculation method. WHO’s Global health estimates present comparable country estimates on an annual basis.
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