causes of death in rural adult population of north india 20022007 using verbal autopsy tool background with the ongoing epidemiological transition information on the pattern of mortality is important for health planning verbal autopsy va is an established tool to ascertain the cause of death in areas where routine registration systems are incomplete or inaccurate we estimated causespecific mortality rates in rural adult population of 28 villages of ballabgarh in north india using vamaterials and methods during 20022007 trained multipurpose health workers conducted 2294 va interviews and underlying cause of death was coded by physicians proportional mortality was calculated by dividing the number of deaths attributed to a specific cause by the total number of deaths for which a va was carried outfindings 61 of deaths occurred among males and 59 occurred among those aged 60 years the leading causes of death were diseases of the respiratory system 187 and the circulatory system 181 infectious causes and injuries and other external causes each accounted for around 15 of total deaths followed by neoplasms 68 and diseases of the digestive system 4 among those 45 years of age or more than half of deaths were attributed to noncommunicable diseases ncds alone accidents and injuries were responsible for onefourth of deaths in 1530 years age groupconclusion ncds and injuries are emerging as major causes of death in this region thereby posing newer challenges to public health system