Mortality amongst Adolescents and Youth in the Latin American and Caribbean Region

While morbidity/mortality is low amongst young people, approximately 150,000 young people between the ages 10-24 die every year in the region of the Americas with great differences amongst and within countries. In order to identify priority countries and vulnerable groups to reduce morbidity/mortality rates amongst young people in the region, a study was carried out on mortality amongst young people in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in 2011. This study is a quantitative descriptive analysis that includes mortality related statistics of young people between the ages 10-24 available in PAHOs regional health observatory from 32 countries in LAC for the years 2000-2009. This study analyzes the most recent mortality rates for all causes disaggregated by age and gender alongside a decade's worth of national and regional mortality trends in the Americas. This study also analyzes the main causes of death disaggregated by age and gender at the regional level and at the national level. The results indicate that: the age group 20-24 is the most vulnerable in terms of mortality due to all causes; the main causes of death for this age group are external causes including injuries, followed by communicable diseases, non communicable diseases, and complications of pregnancy; and although mortality trends have decreased, there still are certain countries with rising mortality rates, including Belize and Panama. Based on the World Bank's system for ranking countries Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the countries with a medium to low or low GDP were the countries with the highest mortality rates.