On your second question we do not track health-related deaths that might be attributed indirectly to the war.

Though the government closely tracks deaths through the Interior and Health Ministries, he said it did not have a system in place for compiling a comprehensive figure.

I.B.M. employees put together a command center to track deaths and medical inventories and coordinate relief supplies.

At least 2,367 Iraqi soldiers and police have been killed this year, compared with 1,300 prior to 2005, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a Web site that tracks Iraqi deaths through news reports.

Direct methods Direct data come from vital statistics registries that track all births and deaths as well as certain changes in legal status such as marriage, divorce, and migration (registration of place of residence).

The group, using a combination of sources, also tracks immigrant deaths, which have markedly increased in recent years.

About 900 Iraqi civilians were killed in March, up from about 700 the month before, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an independent organization that tracks deaths.

Iraq Body Count, a group that tracks Iraqi civilian deaths, listed them as being between 27,383 and 30,892 on its Web site today.

Some aid agencies have reported that the toll may be higher than the official figures because the government does not track deaths in rural areas where people never reached a hospital or emergency treatment center.

One parent support group that tracks drug-related deaths in South Jersey estimates that so far this year 85 people have died of drug overdoses.