ROAD accidents, pregnancy and childbirth complications, suicide, violence, the Aids virus and tuberculosis are the biggest killers of young people across the world, according to a study published on Friday.

Researchers supported by the World Health Organisation （WHO） said their study - the first to look at global death rates in those aged 10 to 24 - exposed as myth adolescents' belief that they are stronger and fitter than other age groups.

In reality, they said, 2.6 million young people are dying each year and most of those deaths are preventable. Some 97 per cent of the deaths were in low- and middle-income countries.

'Mortality rates in low-income and middle-income countries were almost four-fold higher than were those in high-income countries, a difference that was particularly pronounced for young women,' the authors wrote on their study in The Lancet.

According to the WHO, there are more young people in the world today than ever before - 1.8 billion 10 to 14 year-olds account for 30 per cent of the world's population.

But George Patton of the Centre for Adolescent Health and Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia, who led the study, said the needs of this age group were often eclipsed by the very young, the elderly or the very sick when governments draw up health policies - an approach he said was increasingly risky as economic development continues.

'We are seeing a shift of mortality to adolescence with economic development,' Mr Patton told a news conference in London. 'No longer can politicians and those making policy say 'young people are healthy. We don't need to worry'. They do die.'

Mr Patton's study found that two in five deaths worldwide in this age group were due to injuries and violence, with young men in low and middle-income regions such as eastern Europe and parts of South America at particularly high risk.

The top cause of adolescent male deaths was road traffic accidents at 14 per cent, followed by violence and suicide. Road accidents were also the biggest overall killer, accounting for 10 per cent of all deaths in the 10 to 24 age group, with suicide next at 6.3 per cent.

The researchers said this suggested the current focus on Aids and other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis in this age group, while important, was 'an insufficient response'.

上周五一项研究公布：道路交通事故，怀孕和分娩并发症，自杀，暴力，艾滋病病毒和肺结核是世界各地的年轻人的最大杀手。

由世界卫生组织支持的研究人员说，他们的研究--首先是看看10岁至24岁全球的死亡率--揭露关于青少年的神话信念，即相信他们比其他年龄组更强壮更健康。

他们说，每年有260万青少年死亡，实际上这些死亡人大部分是可以预防的。这些死亡人的百分之九十七是在低收入和中等收入的国家。

"低收入和中等收入国家的死亡率近四倍高于高收入国家，尤其是年轻女性死亡率的差异特别明显"专家们在《柳叶刀》中写道。

根据世界卫生组织报道，现在全球的青年人比以往任何时候都更多--10至14岁有1.8亿人，占世界人口的百分之三十。

然而，乔治巴顿，澳大利亚青少年健康中心和默多克儿童研究所的领导，他说，这个年龄组的需求往往被政府制定的幼儿、老人或病重等卫生政策所掩盖。他说，作为经济发展中国家，处理这个问题变得越来越困难，

"我们看到了随着经济的发展青少年的死亡率却在变化，"巴顿先生在伦敦的新闻发布会是说"政治家和政策制定者不能再说'年轻人是健康的，我们不必担心'.他们确实死了。"

巴顿先生的研究发现，这一年龄组的全球死亡人数中五分之二是由于受伤和暴力，是低收入和中等收入地区的青年男子，如东欧和南美洲部分地区，特别是在高危险地区。

男性青少年死亡的最大原因是道路交通事故，占百分之十四，其次是暴力和自杀。道路交通事故也是最大的整体杀手，在10至24岁年龄组的死亡人数中占百分之十，自杀占百分之六点三。

研究人员称，这暗示着在这一年龄组中，防治肺结核、艾滋病和其他传染性疾病是目前的工作重点，而关键是"反应不足".