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The AP Burden of Disease (APBD) estimates arrived at in this study are of importance from two different policy perspectives. National Burden of Disease (NBD) estimate will be of immediate interest to those concerned about health policy of the concerned national or sub-national entity for which the study is made. This study has highlighted the need for reliable and valid local data for National Burden of Disease Estimates. Using the case of Andhra Pradesh in India, the study examines available sources of data and describes their usability. Deficiency in availability of local data is highlighted to draw attention to the need for improving vital statistics, cause of death and epidemiological surveillance systems. The Global Burden of Disease Estimation projects has encouraged internal consistency checks, indirect estimations, synthesis of epidemiological and demographic information, sheer perseverance to tap a wide array of data sources and estimation of missing data points by triangulation. An important contribution of this study is the advancement of methodological aspects of health state valuation in developing country communities. On the substantive aspect of the subject, this study has shed some light and raised many questions about the nature of the health state valuation process in our minds. The study provided an opportunity for a comprehensive estimation of disease burden in AP during the 1990s. Clearly (a) lower respiratory tract infections (LRI), (b) diarrhoeal diseases, (c) low birth weight (LBW), (d) tuberculosis and (e) falls were the top causes of disease burden in AP, during the 1990s. One hopes that the disease burden estimates for Andhra Pradesh prepared now, will help focus policy maker's attention on some of the leading causes of disease burden in the state.
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