Leading causes of deaths in the mortality transition in Papua New Guinea: evidence from the Comprehensive Health and Epidemiological Surveillance System.

Background: Changing causes of deaths in the mortality transition in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are poorly understood. This study analysed community-level data to identify leading causes of death in the population and variations across age groups and sexes, urban-rural sectors and provinces. Method: Mortality surveillance data were collected from 2018-20 as part of the Comprehensive Health and Epidemiological Surveillance System (CHESS), using the World Health Organization 2016 verbal autopsy (VA) instrument. Data from 926 VA interviews were analysed, using the InterVA-5 cause of death analytical tool to assign specific causes of death among children (0-14 years), those of working age (15-64 years) and the elderly (65+ years). Result: Nearly 50% of the total deaths were attributed to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), followed by infectious and parasitic diseases (35%), injuries and external causes (11%) and maternal and neonatal deaths (4%). Leading causes of death among children were acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) and diarrhoeal diseases, each contributing to 13% of total deaths. Among the working population, tuberculosis (TB) contributed to 12% of total deaths, followed by HIV/AIDS (11%). TB- and HIV/AIDS-attributed deaths were highest in the age group 25-34 years, at 20% and 18%, respectively. These diseases killed more females of working age (n = 79, 15%) than males (n = 52, 8%). Among the elderly, the leading causes of death were ARTIs (13%) followed by digestive neoplasms (10%) and acute cardiac diseases (9%).

Conclusion: The variations in leading causes of death across the populations in PNG suggest diversity in mortality transition. This requires different strategies to address specific causes of death in particular populations.