Background: Information on causes of adult deaths is relatively scarce in developingrncountries where vital registration systems are often incomplete or nonexistent and manyrndeaths occur at home.rnObjective: To obtain a community based estimate of the specific causes of mortality andrnthe burden of chronic morbidity in an urban adult population with major emphasis onrndetermining the pattern of HIV/AIDS mortality in Addis Ababa.rnMethod: A cross sectional quantitative study was done from Dec. 2004-Jan. 2005 onrn3600 randomly selected households in Addis Ababa. An appropriate VA tool andrnchronic morbidity assessment questionnaire were utilized for data collection.rnResults: The crude death rate was 8.1 per 1000 population per year. The cause specificrnmortality fraction of AIDS/TB , noncommunicable disease and accidents were 44.3%,rn15.3% and 11.2% respectively. Age and sex specific mortality picture of AIDS showedrnthat at early adult age (20-29) years, females exhibited a very high death rate than theirrnmale counterpart, which is high at 29-34 years of age Seventy five percent of deathsrnwere found to have occurred at home with health institution deaths accounting for onlyrn21%. Hypertension, asthma, cardiac problem and psychiatric illnesses were therncommonest chronic illnesses identified during the study. AIDS mortality fraction is stillrnhigher as compared to other causes of deaths in Addis Ababa. The burden of AIDSrnmortality is higher in the center of the city where socio-economic status is low andrnprostitution and sex marketing is high as compared to the outer city.rnConclusion and Recommendation: The proportional mortality due to AIDS is high asrncompared to other causes of deaths in Addis Ababa. At early adult age females exhibitedrnhigher AIDS specific mortality rate than males for which it is high at later age. Chronicrnnon- communicable diseases are also posing significant health problems in terms ofrnchronic morbidity and mortality in the city. Continuation of such community-basedrnsurveillance of cause of deaths is recommended.