A population laboratory for studying disease processes and mortality--the Demographic Surveillance System, Matlab Comilla, Bangladesh.

Describes the Demograhic Surveillance System (DSS) of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), initiated in 1963. The DSS consists of periodic censuses of the study population with intervening registration of vital events. The surveillance area currently consists of 159 villages, containing an estimated population (1974) of 160 thousand, in Matlab, Comilla district. Immediate objectives are assessment of maternal and child health and family planning services in the area, research related to diarrheal diseases, measurements and determinants of fertility and mortality, and development of a demographic field site for training of people involved in national programs. Data are collected through a 3 tiered system: vital events are recorded by female village workers, whose work is checked by field…