Just about all deaths are sad, and many are tragic. But from a public health standpoint, there are more profound and meaningful differences. A ninety-year-old man with limited mental and physical impairment expiring in his sleep is a good death. A six-year-old child, whether living in the United States or in a country in Africa or Asia, dying of a diarrheal disease is a bad death. The first is a peaceful end to a long and eventful life. The second is the loss of many decades of life and potential and an absence of future generations. As epidemiologists, we have two goals. The first is to
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