The VAI was initially designed to be used by field reporters with minimal schooling and had only 18 symptom questions. It also allowed for the recording of a brief open-ended narrative, the place of death, any treatment by health services, and the type of treatment. The disease classification was based on Lay reporting of health information (WHO 1978) and COD was entered into the international form of the death certificate. Verbal autopsies (VAs) were physician-coded with reference to diagnostic algorithms. In this working paper, details of 8489 deaths (6809 from Tari, 812 from Asaro, 461 from Wosera and 407 from Madang) are reported. Leading CODs were pneumonia (21.8%), chronic (non-tuberculous) lung disease (13.5%), diarrhoea/dysentery (8.3%), injury (7.3%), “other fevers” (7.3% %), and “other respiratory” (4.2%). This short VA instrument was designed for a specific purpose in a particular environment. Considering its limitations, it gives a broad but remarkably accurate description of PNG rural mortality over a period of more than 30 years.
