Heart ailments, infectious diseases and cancer remain the world’s top three killers, the UN health agency said recently.
Heart attacks and related problems are the top killer -- especially among women each year, the World Health Organization said in a report on the global burden of disease. In second place, infectious diseases lead to 16.2 percent of worldwide deaths.
Cancer, in third claims 12.6 of global deaths, said the 146-page report, which based on death registration data from 11 countries and estimates where reporting is incomplete.
The figures are from 2004, the most recent records available on a wide scale, officials from WHO said. But the rankings are unchanged since 1990 when WHO first did a global check.
Some 58.8 million people died worldwide in 2004, most of them over 60, the report said. Nearly one in five deaths was a child under 5.
The heart disease death rate was virtually unchanged from WHO’s previous study on death causes, based on 2002 figures.
The rate for infectious disease dropped from 2002, when they accounted for 19.1 of the world’s deaths, partly because estimates for AIDS deaths were revised downward last year, said a WHO expert.
Women die more often from heart disease than men. The rate for females is 31.5 percent, and for males 26.8 percent, the report said.
The percentage for women was higher because there were more women living at older ages than men.
But in general, men are more affected by heart diseases, the report said.
Filling out the top 12 causes of death are respiratory infections including pneumonia in fourth place, 7.2 percent; respiratory diseases, including asthma and allergies, 6.9 percent; accidental injuries and drowning, 6.6 percent; health problems of fetuses and newborns, 5.4 percent; digestive diseases. 3.5 percent; suicide, murder and conflict, 2.8 percent; neuropsychiatric disorders, 2.1 percent; diabetes, 1.9 percent; and maternal health problems related to pregnancy or birth 0.9 percent.
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