SOURCE
World Health Organisation Statistical Information System

DEFINITION
Total for all ages and sexes. Database compiled January 2004. Total of figures for:

• Sudden infant death syndromel> The mortality statistics consist of deaths registered in national vital registration systems, as submitted to the World Health Organisation. Underlying cause of death is listed as coded by the relevant national authority. Death registration coverage and cross-national differences in coding practices, particularly in the use of codes for ill-defined and unknown causes, must be taken into account to validly compare mortality rates for specific causes across countries. Great caution should therefore be taken when doing inter-country comparisons. The "mortality" statistics listed here are therefore best thought of as an indication of the data being recorded by various nations, rather than as an accurate indicator of real causes of death.

DEFINITION: Total for all ages and sexes. Database compiled January 2004. Total of figures for:

• Sudden infant death syndromel> The mortality statistics consist of deaths registered in national vital registration systems, as submitted to the World Health Organisation. Underlying cause of death is listed as coded by the relevant national authority. Death registration coverage and cross-national differences in coding practices, particularly in the use of codes for ill-defined and unknown causes, must be taken into account to validly compare mortality rates for specific causes across countries. Great caution should therefore be taken when doing inter-country comparisons. The "mortality" statistics listed here are therefore best thought of as an indication of the data being recorded by various nations, rather than as an accurate indicator of real causes of death.

SOURCE: World Health Organisation Statistical Information System

NOTES: These statistics are derived from official causes of death detailed on certificates of death by each country. Rather than being a true indicator of the number of deaths attributed to a particular cause, mortality statistics reveal more about a particular country's reporting processes.