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WHO report These are the most common causes of death in the world
The researchers of the well-known international World Health Organization WHO investigated the most common causes of death worldwide. More than half of all deaths (54 percent) were attributable to the same ten causes.
Scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO) found in their study that the ten leading causes of death cause more than half of all deaths in the world each year. The experts published a press release on the results of their study.
Every year, millions of people die of different causes. The WHO has published a list of the most common causes of death in the world. (Image: chalabala / fotolia.com) More than half of all deaths in 2015 are attributable to ten causes
During their 2015 data review, the researchers found that of the 56.4 million deaths this year, more than half (54 percent) were due to the top ten causes of death. The diseases that lead to the most deaths are: ischemic heart disease and strokes. Together, these diseases accounted for approximately 15 million deaths in 2015 and are the world's leading causes of death in the last 15 years.
Which diseases are responsible for most deaths??
But other serious illnesses are responsible for millions of deaths. For example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused approximately 3.2 million deaths in 2015. In contrast, lung cancer (along with trachea and cancer of the bronchi) resulted in 1.7 million deaths. Diabetes triggered the death of 1.6 million people. This value had increased greatly. In 2000, it was under one million, the experts say. Dementia deaths doubled between the years 2000 and 2015, making dementia the seventh most common cause of death in 2015, the authors explain.
Other common causes of death
The so-called lower respiratory tract infection remained the deadliest communicable disease in 2015. The disease was responsible for approximately 3.2 million deaths worldwide. Deaths caused by diarrhea almost halved between the year 2000 and 2015. Nevertheless, there were still 1.4 million deaths associated with diarrhea, the doctors write. By comparison, fewer people died from tuberculosis during the same period, but tuberculosis is also one of the ten leading causes of death. The disease resulted in just under 1.4 million deaths. HIV / AIDS was no longer one of the top ten leading causes of death worldwide in 2015. However, the disease still killed 1.1 million people, the researchers say. In 2000, this value was still at 1.5 million. Traffic accidents killed around 1.3 million people in 2015. About three quarters (76 percent) of the victims were young adult men.
Lower respiratory tract infections were among the leading causes of death everywhere
More than half (52 percent) of all deaths in the low-income countries in 2015 were caused by the so-called Group I conditions. These included communicable diseases, maternal causes, pregnancy and birth conditions and nutritional deficiencies, the experts explain. In comparison, only seven percent of deaths in high-income countries were due to such causes. Lower respiratory infections were among the leading causes of death in all income groups.
There are still many deaths from traffic accidents
So-called non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause 70 percent of deaths worldwide. In low-income countries, the figure was 37 percent. In high-income countries, these illnesses cause as many as 88 percent of deaths, say the physicians. Injuries and accidents resulted in nearly 5 million deaths in 2015. More than a quarter (27 percent) of these deaths were caused by traffic accidents. Low-income countries had the highest death rate from road traffic injuries, with 28.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, the authors add.
Why is it important to know what people are dying for??
It is important to know why and how many people die every year, researchers say. Thus, the effectiveness of the health system of a country can be assessed. With the help of such figures, health authorities can then determine the focus of their public health actions. For example, in a country, when deaths due to heart disease and diabetes increase over a period of a few years, this country can promote healthy lifestyles to prevent such diseases.
Systems for collecting information need to be improved in many countries
High-income countries have different systems for gathering information about the causes of death present. Many low and middle income countries do not have such systems, the scientists explain. Therefore, the number of deaths from specific causes in such countries usually has to be estimated from incomplete data. Improvements in the production of high quality data on the cause of death are crucial for improving health and reducing deaths in these countries. (As)