A. India and China account for over half of the "missing women" is correct

Over half of all cases of missing girls and excess female mortality occur in only two countries — China (1.25 million annually) and India (856,000), according to data from the World Health Organization (as of 2008).

About two-fifths of the "missing women" are never born. Missing girls at birth are explained by a combination of strong preferences for sons, declining fertility, as well as advances in technologies for pre-birth gender determination, according to the World Bank.

One-fifth of the excess death occur in infancy, while the remaining two-fifths occur among women between the ages of 15 and 49. After birth, poor public health and health care services, together with HIV/AIDS, account for most cases of the excess female mortality.

Since 1990, there has been a small decrease in the number of excess female deaths in India and in China. However, other countries in Asia — especially in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam — have experienced much more dramatic declines.

B. Their number has doubled in Sub-Saharan Africa is correct.

Despite gradual progress in India and China, which together have reduced the number of excess female deaths by 600,000 a year (primarily as a result of reductions in after-birth deaths), on a worldwide basis the number has declined only slightly, by 200,000, from the 1990 level.

To a large extent, this is because the number of excess female deaths doubled in Sub-Saharan Africa between 1990 and 2008 (an increase due, in part, to a 50% increase in Africa's population). But it also reflects a dramatic increase — from 50,000 to over 400,000 a year — in the number of female deaths in high HIV prevalence countries.

With a total of 1.18 million excess female deaths a year, Sub-Saharan Africa is now the second-worst offender in the world.

C. The problem disproportionately affects girls at birth is correct.

The practice of reducing the number of girls right at birth is especially widespread in China. Almost 1.1 million of the country's annual 1.25 million excess female deaths occur at birth. China's relatively low level of excess female deaths after birth is a reflection of the improvements the country has made in public health and health care since 1990.

In sharp contrast, India stands out as a country whose excess female deaths are pretty evenly distributed throughout women's lives, including 228,000 excess deaths for women between the ages of 15 and 49.

D. It also used to be a problem in the Western world is correct.

A review of historical evidence shows that similar patterns of excess female deaths occurred in Northern and Western Europe, as well as the United States, but disappeared between 1900 and 1950. A key factor was improvements in clean water, sanitation and maternal health care — issues of great importance in the developing world today.