Smith, G.

The BOSTID REA research programme is concerned with how to integrate epidemiological methods into the field of planning and delivery of health services. The aim of the BOSTID programme is to change REA from being an art into a legitimate discipline. Several methods are discussed which are intended to be faster and cheaper than conventional data collection: cluster sample surveys; case control methods; quality assurance sampling and risk assessment and surveillance.

This paper presents the results of an international workshop convened to examine verbal autopsy methods with the goal of achieving a consensus on methodological approaches. A verbal autopsy is an interview designed to identify specific medical syndromes, using information about the terminal illness elicited from relatives of the deceased person. Particular attention is paid to the difficulties of cause-specific mortality of children in developing countries.