Understanding Mortality and Epidemiological Transition in Goa

This article attempts to study the major features of Goa’s mortality transition over the last three decades. By using the deaths data from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in the Annual Reports of Registrar of Births and Deaths in Goa, an attempt is made here to understand the major causes of mortality influencing Goa’s epidemiological transition. Age structure of mortality, changes in cause composition of age-specific mortality, male-female mortality differences and disease death patterns are also studied. It emerges from the article that Goa has witnessed a phase of gradual reduction of infectious and communicable deaths and increasingly been facing non-communicable type of mortality. The age structure of mortality reflects reductions in the share of children’s deaths over a period of time and a shift towards older age mortality. The epidemiological transition shows that circulatory deaths, respiratory deaths and cancer deaths have increased their relative contributions in mortality, and the disease-wise death patterns indicate increasing prominence of lifestyle-related diseases. This suggests that the state needs to embark on a planned approach towards evolving a time-bound health policy with a clear focus on specific aspects of mortality and disease.
Source: Journal of Health Management - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Articles Source Type: research