These yearbooks will provide background data and complement the quadrennial publication Health Conditions in the Americas, a report that was begun in 1954 and issued in its 10th edition in 1990. It is hoped that the data presented here will both provide information for consultation and reference and stimulate more numerous and more in-depth analyses of the changing mortality profiles in the countries and the trends in major public health problems in the region. Although some of these data are incomplete or of uncertain quality, we are convinced that their judicious use will demonstrate their utility, and will in turn provide the best incentive for generating increasingly pertinent, valid, and timely information (Director-PAHO)