Preface

*Mortality Rates in Middle and Low-Income Countries* is a compilation of six chapters comprised of reviews, research works, and authors' opinions providing insight into the previous and present trends in mortality rates in different countries. The book describes causes and factors leading to high mortality and the latest developments in the field of healthcare with best practices to reduce and limit mortality in all ages. It also presents mortality and related health outcomes in economically poor countries. There are many encouraging examples where mortality rates have been reduced by some countries and thus similar approaches and interventions can be adapted by other countries to lower the mortality rate and improve the existing healthcare system.

Chapters 1 and 2 introduce determinants of mortality in various countries. Chapter 3 focuses on child mortality. Chapter 4 describes the stress and sustainable interventions such as the role of music in decreasing stress and related health outcomes. Chapter 5 describes health-seeking behaviors among cancer patients and introduces a new matrix/index of people load per hospital. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the status of maternal and child mortality and highlights successful interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality, for example, the use of community-based birth attendants. Written by experts, this book can be adopted at various levels to bolster the quality of healthcare systems worldwide.

> **Umar Bacha** School of Health Sciences, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

Section 1
