Intercensal change and the indirect estimation of mortality: the case of Pakistan

"In a country such as Pakistan, where there is no vital registration system, estimating mortality levels and trends can be difficult. One way we can learn about mortality is to use indirect estimation techniques on census age distributions. This paper applies some of these techniques and evaluates the quality of the census data in the process." Problems of relative coverage in the 1972 and 1981 censuses and changes in age-reporting preferences are discussed. Comments by Mohammad Afzal are included (pp. 583-5).