Verbal autopsy: Critical eye on a valuable tool for mortality surveillance

by Hellen Gelband

The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, 2021

In certain parts of the world, a great number of people are born, live their lives, and die without leaving a trace in the public record. While this does not mean that their lives were without meaning, it has practical significance, from legal inheritance to the right for widowed spouses to remarry. It also matters to public health, because an undocumented life and death cannot contribute to improving the lives of those who come after.

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