ABSTRACT
Following the discussion of cardiovascular disease and cancer in the previous chapter, respiratory disorders are discussed in this chapter, and then mental health conditions and multimorbidity are considered. This leads into the examination of the role of prescribing in primary health care on population mortality. The chapter concludes by presenting seven mechanisms by which population mortality is affected, including the availability of primary health care to the whole population, care throughout the lifecycle, management of diseases or conditions causing the most deaths, illness prevention, making early diagnoses, caring for the whole person and avoiding harms when prescribing medication.
