[Causes of adult mortality in developing and developed countries with low mortality rates]

"In a certain number of developing countries, life expectancy levels now approach those of the developed world. But, though life expectancies at birth may be similar, the infant mortality rate in developing countries remains higher, but is compensated by a lower rate of mortality for adults. Is it to be expected that as infant mortality rates continue to decline, the developing countries will maintain their advantageous adult mortality rates and that life expectancy will forge ahead of the level achieved in developed countries?... To answer this question, recent trends in adult cause-specific mortality rates in four developing countries (Chile, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Costa Rica) were compared with those in three industrialized countries (France, Germany and Japan). The results were inconclusive. Whilst life expectancies in some of these countries may be expected to forge ahead (Chile, Hong Kong), in others the margin between their life expectancies and those of developed countries have already narrowed." (SUMMARY IN ENG)