How Counting the Dead Will Help the Living
- Early Myanmar findings highlight stroke, heart-disease burden
- 35 million deaths go unrecorded annually, undermining policies
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In Myanmar, most deaths occur at home and only a quarter are certified by doctors. That’s worrisome, since not knowing why people die can undermine efforts to save lives.
Now, innovative methods for counting the dead are being rolled out in the Southeast Asian nation, revealing previously under-appreciated patterns of disease that may change health policies and strategies. Known as verbal autopsies, the data-gathering relies on midwives quizzing family members. The answers to a questionnaire are then entered into a computer tablet that uses a software algorithm to come up with a probable cause of death.