THURSDAY, Sept. 10 (HealthDay News) -- In a study of global death
rates, researchers have found that 97 percent of deaths among children and
young adults aged 10 to 24 occur in poor and middle-income countries.

While much of the world focuses on infectious diseases such as
HIV/AIDS, 40 percent of the deaths in this age group occur because of
accidents or violence, including war, the researchers report in the Sept.
12 issue of The Lancet.

Dr. George Patton, of the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne,
Australia, and international colleagues looked at worldwide statistics
from reports issued in 2004 and 2006. In 2004, 2.6 million people died
between the ages of 10 and 24 worldwide, and nearly two-thirds of them
were in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, even though those areas
make up just 42 percent of the world population in that age group.

The researchers found that girls and young women were especially
affected by the disparity. Fifteen percent of deaths of females were due
to consequences of being mothers.

Traffic accidents accounted for 14 percent of male deaths and 5 percent
of female deaths.

In Africa and Southeast Asia, tuberculosis and certain lung infections
cause more youth deaths than HIV/AIDS, "but have not yet attracted a
similar response in policy," the researchers wrote.

In a commentary, Dr. Robert W. Blum, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health, wrote that "although adolescence is often referred to as
the healthiest stage of life, [this report] makes clear that young people
are at substantial risk for mortality."

More information

Learn more about worldwide health statistics from the World Health
Organization.