About the Authors

Christopher J. L. Murray

cjlm@u.washington.edu

Affiliation Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Alan D. Lopez

Affiliation School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Competing Interests

CJLM works in academia generating health indicator estimates; is the Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation; is a Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington; and from 1998 to 2003 worked at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. ADL works in academia generating health indicator estimates; is a member of the editorial board for PLoS Medicine; is Head of the School of Population Health and Professor of Global Health at the University of Queensland; is an Affiliate Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation; and from 1980 to 2002 worked at the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland in a series of technical and senior managerial posts.

Author Contributions

ICMJE criteria for authorship read and met: CJLM ADL. Agree with the manuscript's results and conclusions: CJLM ADL. Wrote the first draft of the paper: CJLM ADL. Contributed to the writing of the paper: CJLM ADL.