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Epidemiological transition
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Demography/VktYwWUD">demography</a> and <a href="/facts/Medical_geography/tCEfSgKS">medical geography</a>, epidemiological transition is a <a href="/facts/Theory/9vrNS1Rr">theory</a> which "describes changing population patterns in terms of <a href="/facts/Fertility/5S7Xull5">fertility</a>, <a href="/facts/Life_expectancy/uPc8bWWW">life expectancy</a>, mortality, and leading causes of death." For example, a phase of development marked by a sudden increase in <a href="/facts/Population_growth/oxb6ttX0">population growth</a> rates brought by improved <a href="/facts/Food_security/cKrQd4E9">food security</a> and innovations in <a href="/facts/Public_health/4563Kre9">public health</a> and medicine, can be followed by a re-leveling of population growth due to subsequent declines in <a href="/facts/Fertility_rates/ugganzwn">fertility rates</a>. Such a transition can account for the replacement of <a href="/facts/Infectious_disease/182XrncP">infectious diseases</a> by <a href="/facts/Chronic_disease/6CqLP41r">chronic diseases</a> over time due to increased life span as a result of improved <a href="/facts/Health_care/LPS1WKbI">health care</a> and <a href="/facts/Disease_prevention/pWGlacXu">disease prevention</a>. This theory was originally posited by Abdel Omran in 1971. </p>