An international team of doctors and scientists
is calling for more focus on the causes of death
among young people around the world,
age between 10 and 24,
saying the issue is largely ignored by policy makers.
A study published in the medical journal
the Lancet found that
40% of adolescent deaths are caused by various forms of injury.
Jill McGivering reports.
Until this research was published
there were little data on how many young people die
worldwide in which countries and for what reasons.
Now a pattern is emerging.
The study suggests the death rate
is strongly linked to how poor a country is.
Most deaths are in the developing world
driven by high rate of infectious disease
and of maternal mortality.
But globally 40% of adolescent deaths
are caused by types of injury
including road traffic accident, suicide and violent attacks.