Mortality differentials in a multi-ethnic society, Iran: some new evidence.

Mohsen Naghavi, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Iran
Akbar Aghajanian, Fayetteville State University
Shirin Ahmad-Nia, Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Iran
Amir-Houshang Mehryar, Regional Center for Population Research and Studies in Asia and the Pacific

Abstract Iran is a multi-ethnic society with a large number of ethnic groups speaking different languages or dialects. Best known of these are Azarbayjan (speaking a Turkish dialect), Kurdestan (speaking Kurdish), Lorestan (speaking Lori), Sistan-Baluchestan (speaking Baluchi) and Khuzestan (speaking Arabic). Some of these groups are also distinguished by being members of the Sunnid Islam as compared with the majority of Iranians who are Shiite. These ethno-cultural differences are associated with cultural practices and life styles that may lead to different patterns of mrbidity and mortality. The aim of this paper is to investigate provincial variations in morbidity and mortality patterns in contemporary Iran and to determine the relative share of ethnic identity versus social development in these variations. Two sets of data on cause-specific mortality recently published by the Ministry of Health (2006) and Civil registration Organization of Iran (2005) will be used as the main sources of information.