Health systems in transition : Uzbekistan

1980
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2012
Estimated life expectancy at birth, total (years)
65.3
66.7
66.3
66.9
67.3
67.9
68.1
Estimated life expectancy at birth, male (years)
61.8
63.6
63.2
63.8
64.1
64.6
64.8
Estimated life expectancy at birth, female (years)
68.9
70.0
69.6
70.3
70.7
71.3
71.5
Life expectancy at birth, total (years), 
national statistics
b
67.2
69.7
67.9
69.6
70.5
72.9
a
73.1
a
Life expectancy at birth, male (years), 
national statistics
b
63.6
66.3
65.0
67.0
68.2
70.6
a
70.7
a
Life expectancy at birth, female (years), 
national statistics
b
70.4
72.9
70.7
72.2
73.0
75.1
a
75.5
a
Estimated mortality rate, adult, male 
(per 1 000 male adults)
245.1
241.9
251.6
249.2
246.9
241.7
239.2
Estimated mortality rate, adult, female 
(per 1 000 female adults)
121.4
131.2
143.8
143.4
141.7
137.2
134.9
Sources
: World Bank, 2014; 
a
State Committee on Statistics, 2013; 
b
WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2014a.
The difference between officially recorded rates on infant mortality and 
estimates based on survey data is due to several reasons (Aleshina & Redmond, 
2003; World Bank, 2004). One reason is the misreporting of births and infant 
deaths by medical staff, partly due to the fear of consequences by medical 
personnel (Measure DHS, 2002). Other reasons are differences in definitions 
of indicators and estimation methods used. According to World Bank estimates 
(World Bank, 2014), infant mortality had declined to 34.4 deaths per 1000 live 
births by 2012 (Table 1.5). This contrasts with an officially recorded rate of 
9.8 deaths in 2012 (State Committee on Statistics, 2013). The Ministry of Health 
piloted the WHO live birth definition since 2003 and formally adopted it in 
2010 (Ministry of Health, 2010). However, the international definition is not 
yet applied to the data reported by the State Committee on Statistics, causing 
a significant discrepancy between official vital statistics and international 
estimates by agencies such as WHO and the United Nations Inter-agency Group 
for Child Mortality Estimation.

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Health systems in transition
  
Uzbekistan
7
Diseases of the circulatory system (in particular ischaemic heart disease and 
cerebrovascular disease) are the most common causes of death in Uzbekistan 
(Table 1.4). The mortality rate from diseases of the circulatory system has 
increased in Uzbekistan since the 1980s, a development that mirrors the 
trends in other countries of central Asia and the CIS, but contrasts with trends 
in western Europe, where mortality from this group of causes of death has 
continuously declined in recent decades. 
Table 1.4
Main causes of death, selected years, age-standardized death rates per 100 000 
population, 1981–2005, selected years