BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

ChapterXVIII. Highlights and Recommendations
357
resources, to assess and improve the nutri­
tional state of expectant mothers and children
has high priority. Imaginative opera­
tional research is urgently needed to pro­
vide the foundation for reorientation of ma­
ternal and child health programs in de­
veloping societies.
Future epidemiologic research on diseases
and on methods for their prevention should
he directed toward elucidating the roles of
the host, the specific agent. and the environthe
interrelationships of the
ment, and all
multiple factors involved. Additional geo­
graphic studies similar to the two Inter­
American Investigations of M!ortality, using
new approaches for further exploration into
multiple causes of disease and determinants
of health, will contribute to the advance­
inent of epidemiology and hence to the irprovement
of world health.
mothers-an important clue for the search
for specific causes.
The complexity of the perinatal causes
of mortality, that is, conditions in the
mother and those of placenta and cord, has
been revealed by the data collected, and
the value of analysis of multiple causes and
factors has been shown. More complete information
is required regarding multiple
causes involved in neonatal deaths as well
as basic data from birth certificates for
analysis of mortality according to infant's
birth weight and age and parity of the
mother,
Once knowledge has been gained of the
magnitude and nature of causes and factors
responsible for excessive reproductive wastage,
as well as of their interrelationships,
it becomes obligatory to find the best solutions
possible for the problems uncovered.
Action at the community level, using local