Timely and high-quality data on mortality and causes of death are crucial for informing public health decision making and for monitoring progress for health targets and programs. Knowledge of changing mortality levels and patterns can be particularly important in contexts of increased life expectancy and a shift in disease burden towards chronic non-communicable diseases. To respond to these new health burdens as well as existing and emerging disease burden from infectious epidemics, empirical local data on disease prevalence, mortality and causes of death, and the population distribution of health states is essential.

ANU staff are working with the World Health Organization, other international organizations, and partner countries across the region to strengthen systems of collection and compilation of data on mortality and causes of death with a focus on integration of data on deaths from multiple sources and establishment of procedures to link administrative and health sector records. Focus countries for this ANU collaboration include Timor-Leste, Lao PDR, Sri Lanka and Nepal.